According to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Capital Region is now offering up care and hospital beds to New York City COVID-19 patients.

In his April 1 press conference, the governor was asked by a journalist whether patients in New York City had been moved to Albany Medical Center and Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, and Cuomo responded “yes,” at least to the Albany Med question. “This is one state, this is one family of New York,” said Cuomo. “We support one another in two ways: staff from upstate hospitals will be going to downstate hospitals, because one of the real critical situations is staff shortages and staff exhaustion; and downstate hospitals, who are at overcapacity can transfer patients to upstate [hospitals].”

As an Albany Med nurse told Saratoga Living in an interview conducted this past weekend that there had been rumors that New York City patients would be shipped to Albany Med for care. (It was reported yesterday that 45 Albany Med employees had tested positive for the virus.)

As of today, there have been more than 80,000 COVID-19 cases confirmed in New York State alone, with 44,915 of those being reported in New York City.