We have to hold the fronts.

Dr.

John Book Far has been a doctor for 20 years.

He's a brain surgeon at one of New York City's most well known hospitals.

But now he's not working in the O.

R.

He's headed to the e R.

The front line of a war.

It's covert 19 AM, a neurosurgeon, and frankly, I haven't intubated a patient in many years, and that means relearning emergency medical care.

We're soldiers fighting this invisible virus, and we entered the trenches every day when we go into the hospital, whether it's in our emergency rooms, whether it's on our intensive care units, the sheer magnitude of the virus outbreak is like a wave about to overtake the U.

S.

Health care system.

More than 43,000 sick at least 550 dead help relieve that burden.

Tens of millions of Americans have been told to stay at home.

So far, at least 20 states have already implemented or announce closures of non essential businesses.

We are the epicenter of this crisis.

With more than 12,000 positive test results, New York City has more cases than any one single location in the country through all hospitals.

Mandatory director from the state Find more beds Used more rooms.

Feels like I'm fighting a fire with blindfolds on emergency room.

Doctor Darien Sutton is among those sounding the alarm because patients are coming in with respiratory symptoms.

We normally can put them in isolation rooms, but we only have a number amount of those.

And so once those run out, when we have patients that have to sit in the hallway or in places where they may expose other people to the infection, he says, the shortages of resource is will lead to bigger issues.

The reality is that there's a very high chance that my colleagues can get sick, and one of the main reasons why is because we have such a limited amount of protective equipment.

We're not superheroes as many people paint us.

New York has tested more people than any of the state.

So far.

The people who test positive 13% require hospitalization.

Of those, nearly 1/4 are in intensive care.

Testing in the city and its suburbs is going up this week in car started lining up at a drive thru facility in neighboring New Jersey.

The site hit capacity just 1/2 hour after opening with a massive influx of patients.

New York is calling on the federal government to help while also trying to buy more supplies.

Masks that we paid 85 cents for we're not paying $7.

Why?

Because California's bidding and Illinois is bidding in Texas is bidding in Florida is bidding.

It makes no sense the federal government must nationalize the equipment production and supply issue.

Internal memos written by Columbia University's chief surgeon, Dr Greg Smith, say that Hiss hospitals have seen a 50% increase in Corona virus patients.

Chief of Surgery, a Columbia University warning in a memo to staff the hospital normally uses 4000 none in 95 mask a day.

Currently, they are consuming 40,000 such mask per day.

Dr.

Cornelia Griggs is a surgery fellow at Columbia University.

Having to make the split second decision.

Am I gonna run into this room to save this patient, or am I gonna take the time to try and scramble and find a mask?

And it's not just in the hospital?

The commissioner of the FDA and why is worried about his E M T s and fire.

Basically, what they're protected with for these types of assignments are gloves, I protection masks and disposable robes.

The burn rate for these peopIe equipment is very high, like in hospitals.

His team's air losing numbers.

First responders test positive for covert 19.

It's very personal each and every day I get a report in the numbers climb.

City and state officials here are sending out the S.

O S for help.

This is today.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tour the Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan.

Facility usually hosts some of the country's biggest industry conventions.

Now home to a temporary FEMA hospital.

He's also putting out the call for any reserve medical personnel to step forward.

I'm contacting all the retired nurses, all retired doctors.

I'm asking medical schools to make their staff available, nursing schools to make their staff available.

The federal government is sending the U.

S.

N s comfort to New York, a Navy hospital ship.

It will also handle overflow from city facilities, but not any covert 19 patients.

It is not necessarily so easy to transport patients to a floating hospital in New York Harbor.

It would be much easier to do so at something like the Javits Convention Center, however, we're still gonna run into her staff shortage show just because their beds doesn't mean their staff and doesn't mean they're ventilators.

In fact, the city only had a week's worth of ventilators left.

But this afternoon the federal government sent a lifeline 400 more that 400 tremendously helpful, and it's gonna help us get through this week into next week.

Again, our request is for 15,000 to get us through April May, New York Fire Commissioner nine Grow helped lead the f.

D.

N Y through the aftermath of 9 11 in says, this city can show the country how to persevere through crisis again.

The world was divided between your life before in your life.

After what happened on 9 11 I think right now in this pandemic, most of us have a life before, and we have today's life, which is the pandemic 24 7 And once again we will be strong as we were then, and strength were learning.

Just like the virus knows no boundaries.

Strength witness in hospitals across the country have tremendous amounts of hope because every day I get to work and I see the people that are working tirelessly to solve this problem and to fight this problem every single day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Men and women are leaving their loved ones behind and going into the face of danger.

And I can't tell you how proud I am to be amongst some of the most courageous and carrying human beings I have ever seen.

Earlier today I spoke with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy about how he's fighting the pandemic there.

Governor, thank you so much for joining us.

Your state New Jersey has the second highest number of confirmed cases in the country.

You've compared this medical crisis to war.

So in this war, do you and your medical workers in New Jersey have the weapons that you need bar Good to be with your first of all.

But the answer is no.

We do not have the equipment that we need.

I'm grateful that we've gotten a second installment on its way from the strategic stockpile nationally of personal protective equipment.

But we need Maur late last night.

As you know, the president tweeted that quote, We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.

And some have speculated where the economy cost of strict social distancing outweighs the public health benefit from it.

What do you think?

Well, I think I'm a pretty well, self declared in the category of Let's Take the Pain Now and the pain is enormous, by the way, workers who have out of work.

But I have to tell you our numbers in terms of the virus air going up, not down at least of the near term.

And we've got to be vigilant about that.

Go.

What do you make of what the governor of Florida has said, saying that anyone traveling from New Jersey and New York to self isolate for 14 days that's the first time I'm hearing it?

Uh, I would just say this any amount of social distancing, any amount of self help that folks can give to them themselves and their families, their neighbors, their friends and the key is to flatten the curve Governor, one of your state run drive through testing centers, exceeding capacity even before it opened.

How do you meet that need moving forward?

Listen, the pen is an enormous pent up demand.

Again, I want to thank our female partners that helped us open to drive through testing sites in the past week.

They're both working, but the problem, of course, this is a lot more people who want to get tested.

That we have the equipment or manpower to test will do everything we can at a certain point.

Well, fork on the road between testing and putting a lot of that manpower and equipment into care fork in the road.

In a perfect world, we want to test everybody absent a lot more raw material and absent another wave of health care workers, we're gonna have choices coming up on the next number of weeks between diverting those resource is both human and equipment to testing or toward care of those who are sick.

Now I'm on optimist, and I'm pounding away every single day on getting that equipment to allow us to do both on.

That's my hope.

Although we're hoping for the best were preparing for the worst.

Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey.

Thank you, sir.

Godspeed to you and your citizens.

Sandy, You borrowed.

Thanks for having me.

Hi.

everyone.

George Stephanopoulos here.

Thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel.

If you'd like to get more video show highlights and watch live event coverage, click on the right over here to subscribe to our channel.

And don't forget to download the ABC News after breaking news alerts.

Thanks for watching.