Mayor Bill de Blasio took time Tuesday to thank the countless New Yorkers who have stepped up to help the city in its battle against coronavirus.

He introduced the new, locally made “bridge” ventilators that will be sent to New York City hospitals.

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He says the Spire Wave Bridge ventilator helps stretch full-service ventilator supplies and reserve them for the most severe cases. It will also help patients with less severe respiratory symptoms.

Mayor de Blasio thanked the FDA for quickly approving the ventilators.

He also announced that New York City is building a strategic reserve of vital medical equipment and supplies.

The reserve will ensure preparedness for any future wave of pandemic. It will also serve as a blueprint for ongoing supplies, including local sourcing to ensure reliability. The reserve will hold face shields, surgical gowns, test kits and bridge ventilators.

In addition to the reserve, five new community testing sites serving at-risk patients have opened in New York City. Another five will also be opening next week. The sites are on track to test 3,600 patients this week and up to 7,000 starting next week.

The sites currently open are NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham in East New York, NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham in Morrisania, Vanderbilt Health Center in Staten Island, Sydenham Family Health Center in Harlem and NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens Hospital.

As the mayor has previously stated, the need for surgical gowns in New York City is dire. He thanked Owens-Minor and Ups for the nearly 1 million square yards of American-made fabric. The fabric will create 400,000 surgical gowns to be delivered 570 miles by UPS from North Carolina.

On a hopeful note, the mayor says when the city is eventually back to normal life, health care workers will be honored with a ticker-tape parade as a thank you.