New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio advocated for nationalizing certain industries to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
While appearing on MSNBC’s AM Joy, host Joy Reid asked de Blasio how someone in New York City should go about getting tested during the growing COVID-19 pandemic.
“People can get tested according to a priority structure, and it’s not enough testing. It’s just as simple as that,” de Blasio said, later claiming that the city has been “pleading” with the federal government for additional testing. “Here’s the reality. This is a war-like situation. We’re in a wartime scenario with a ‘Mar-a-Lago attitude’ being used by the federal government, right?”
And after de Blasio blamed the shortcomings of the federal government for the decreased supply of testing kits and ventilators, he called for the federal government to nationalize “crucial factories and industries.”
“This is a case for a nationalization, literally a nationalization, of crucial factories and industries that could produce the medical supplies to prepare this country for what we need.”
Reid then asked the New York City mayor about his city’s successful program to develop hand sanitizer for members of the public who need it: “Is it true that we’re having hand sanitizer now made in New York?”
“The state has found a way to make it, and that’s great. But the point I’m saying is the federal government should recognize this is literally a crucial part of stopping this,” said de Blasio, while later adding that all factories developing certain medical supplies should be on “24/7 shifts.”
Nearly 147,000 people have tested positive for the virus around the world, killing at least 5,500 people, according to the New York Times. In the United States, there are nearly 2,200 confirmed cases of the virus, which has killed approximately 49 people.
