The Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort is being dispatched to New York Harbor by President Donald Trump to support the coronavirus response.
Trump made the announcement during a Wednesday press conference, according to Politico. And Trump also said he was invoking the Defense Production Act to expand the response to the outbreak. The move will allow the administration to direct industries to ramp up the production of medical supplies.
The Navy’s other hospital ship, the USNS Mercy will be deployed to a west coast location.
"They are in tip-top shape," Trump said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo welcomed news of the Comfort’s deployment, The Washington Times reported.
“It’s an extraordinary step, obviously. he said. "It’s literally a floating hospital, which will add capacity and the president said that he would dispatch that immediately.”
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper had said: "We've already given orders to the Navy...to lean forward in terms of getting (the Comfort and Mercy) ready to deploy.”
The ships are taking medical staff on board and would be used for non-coronavirus patients, sources told USNI News. Regular hospitals would be used to treat those with COVID-19.
Each ship has a 1,000-bed capacity. Comfort is based at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Mercy is at Naval Station San Diego, California.
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