U.S. Navy Hospital Ships will be deployed to New York, West Coast to help beat coronavirus (COVID-19)

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USNS Comfort to help beat coronavirus
Source: Wikipedia

Two U.S. Navy hospital ships will be deployed to New York and the West Coast to help provide medical care as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread across the country.

An update from the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) showed that as of today, March 19, there were 10,442 confirmed COVID-19 cases across all 50 states, the District of Columbia (D.C.), Puerto Rico, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands. One hundred fifty (150) people already died from respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

During a press conference, President Donald Trump announced the deployment of the two U.S. Navy hospital ships—the USNS Comfort to New York and the USNS Mercy to the West Coast.  Both hospital ships have 1,000 beds, 12 fully-equipped operating rooms, a blood bank, a medical laboratory, a pharmacy, an optometry lab, and a CAT-scan.

According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, the USNS Comfort is expected to arrive at New York’s harbor in April. It will significantly increase the state’s hospital bed capacity to provide medical care for patients.