US President Donald Trump updated the nation on the pandemic in front of the USNS Comfort before it departed for New York.
According to Trump, the ship will be used to provide surge capacity for those with urgent care needs other than the coronavirus.
“This great ship behind me is a 70,000-ton message of hope and solidarity to the incredible people of New York,” Trump said. “Their mission will be to care for New Yorker’s who do not have the virus but who require urgent care.
“In other words, they’ll be using this, people will be coming out of hospitals who don’t have the virus and they’ll be on this ship where they have great operating rooms and great facilities and the places in-bound, on land will be where people that have the virus will be.”
The ship is due to arrive in the city on Monday and will start treating patients on Tuesday.
“It is fully loaded with 12 operating rooms and they are fully equipped. 1,000 hospital beds, a medical laboratory, a pharmacy, an optometry lab, digital radiology, a cat scan, two oxygen producing plants, and a helicopter deck which will be used very actively,” Trump added.