New York: To meet the city’s overwhelmed hospital requirements, US Navy Ship – USNS Comfort arrived in New York bringing 1000 hospital beds for the city amid covid19 pandemic.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and City Mayor Bill de Blasio went to greet the ship, Monday morning at Pier 90 in the West Side of Manhattan.
"We all watch something absolutely extraordinary, absolutely inspiring as the USNS Comfort enters New York Harbor, coming here to save the lives of New Yorkers in our hour of need, " de Blasio made the remarks after welcoming the ship.
The Comfort, one of two hospital ships with the Navy, is staffed by some 1,200 medical personnel, 12 fully-equipped operating rooms, a medical laboratory, a pharmacy, an optometry lab, a CAT-scan, among other facilities.
It will start operating on Tuesday treating non-COVID-19 patients so as to free up beds in local hospitals which can be focused on fighting the pandemic by establishing more intensive care units, officials have said.
According to data compiled by the the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, NY has hardly hit with over 36,000 cases reported by Monday afternoon.
City Mayor Bill de Blasio remarks that the country heard the plea for help in New York City. And there could not be a better example of all of America pulling for New York City than the arrival of the USNS Comfort
Governor Cuomo thanked the US Navy and the Army which is going to help staff the ship, and President Trump for mobilizing this effort in a short period of time.
He called for unity of all Americans as "what you're seeing in New York is going to spread across this country".
Monday also marked the opening of the field hospitals assembled by the Army in the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan. The hospitals provide 2,500 beds which are also for treating non-COVID-19 patients.
According to the latest update by the CSSE, the US has recorded 164,274 confirmed coronavirus cases, the highest in the world, with 3,040 deaths.
