Gov. Kate Brown has announced via Twitter that Oregon will send 140 ventilators to New York, who are currently in desperate need.

New York needs more ventilators, and we are answering their call for help.

We'll be sending 140 ventilators to help NY because Oregon is in a better position right now. We must do all that we can to help those on the front lines of this response.
— Governor Kate Brown (@OregonGovBrown) April 4, 2020

Oregon doesn't have everything we need to fight COVID-19 — we need more PPE and testing — but we can help today with ventilators. We are all in this together.
— Governor Kate Brown (@OregonGovBrown) April 4, 2020

According to Oregon Health Authority experts, while we are definitely not out of the woods yet, our state's social distancing methods are paying off, and if we keep it up our hospitals will be able to handle the onslaught of COVID-19 cases that are coming our way. As of yesterday, Oregon has 899 confirmed cases of coronavirus (that we know of), and 22 deaths. For comparison purposes, Alabama—who only implemented social distancing orders yesterday—had roughly the same number of cases as Oregon last week, and now they are reporting almost twice as many.

Meanwhile, New York City is in crisis. In a press briefing yesterday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that 562 people had died over the previous 24 hours, and they will pass 3,000 deaths very soon. And the surge hasn't peaked yet. According to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio (via CNBC):

“We have gotten some ventilators in, but right now, we’re struggling to have enough for next week,” he said, adding that the city needs 15,000 additional ventilators to get through April and May.

Due to the inaction of the Trump administration, and the dismantling of the pandemic response put together by former President Obama, our federal government has made a complete mess of its response, taking equipment from the national stockpile and instead of delivering it directly to the states, gave it to the private sector, thereby forcing states to bid against each other for life saving equipment.

It's the federal government's job to create and institute a plan when our country is faced with a crisis. Trump's administration has utterly failed to do this, and therefore it is up to the states to use their best judgment and send ventilators to the places that need them most—the idea being that each area will receive ventilators just as their own COVID-19 cases start to peak.

Our federal government has refused to take care of us. Governor Brown has the right idea: It's time to take care of ourselves and each other.

The state of Oregon is sending 140 ventilators to NY.

We are so grateful to @OregonGovBrown and the people of Oregon.

On behalf of the people of NY, I thank you and rest assured that NY will repay the favor when Oregon needs it.

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 4, 2020