New York Governor Orders Hospitals to Increase Capacity by at Least 50 Percent

Jacob Javits Center on Manhattan's West Side, which is slated to be converted to a field hospital, after the number of CCP virus cases in New York rose by over 5,000 on March 23, 2020. Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order on March 23 requiring all hospitals in the state to increase their capacity by 50 percent, as the state reported more than 5,000 new cases.

Cuomo said hospitals should try to increase capacity by 100 percent but that some hospitals wouldn’t be able to.