Photos show the 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort arriving in New York to support the city in its flight against coronavirus
There have been at least 966 coronavirus-related deaths in New York as of March 29. About 80% of those deaths occurred in New York City.
"New York is the epicenter," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on March 29. "We are going to make it through this. We have made it through far greater things."
Source: Business Insider
The USNS Comfort has provided humanitarian relief and been deployed to war zones around the world since it was first converted from a San Clemente-class super oil tanker to a Navy hospital ship in 1987, according to the US Navy.
Source: US Navy, Business Insider
The USNS Comfort was also deployed to New York waters for three weeks in September 2001 — one day following the 9/11 terror attacks — to house and treat first responders, according to the US Navy.
Source: US Navy
The ship functions as a modern hospital.
USNS Comfort houses 12 operating rooms, a pharmacy, four radiology rooms, an isolation ward …
... an optometry area, a CAT scan, and two "oxygen-producing plants” aboard the ship, according to the US Navy.
Source: US Navy (1), US Navy (2)
There are also 80 intensive care unit (ICU) beds along with the 1,000 patient beds, according to the US Navy.
Source: US Navy
There will be about 1,100 medical staffers aboard the ship, according to the US Navy.
Source: US Navy
The USNS Comfort will begin treating patients within the next 24 hours.
Patients treated on the USNS Comfort will be transferred from local hospitals. Walk-on patients will not be accepted.
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