Navy dispatches two ships to act as floating hospitals

Two Navy ships – the USNS Comfort and the USNS Mercy – are being turned into huge floating hospitals to help treat the wave of coronavirus patients who will need care when hospitals become overwhelmed but they won’t be ready for weeks as military medical staff are scrambled to fill them. 

The ships provide 1,000 beds each but it is unclear whether they will bring other crucial supplies, like ventilators and surgical masks. They will both be manned by Navy personnel and will house non-coronavirus patients, leaving the city’s hospitals free to take in those who have tested positive for COVID-19. 

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the Comfort was dispatched to New York City where it provided medical treatment to some first responders at ground zero. In the week after its arrival, it provided food and shelter to 10,000 relief workers who were tasked with working at the disaster zone.  

It is unclear where the Mercy will be docked. President Trump said on Wednesday that he had not yet decided where it will be stationed but it will be somewhere along the West Coast, possibly San Diego. 

It came as Gov. Andrew Cuomo assured New Yorkers that the city will not be placed into full lockdown mode, as Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested, but that extra measures were being taken to stop the spread of the virus. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, 14,000 had been tested for coronavirus in the state of New York alone and 2,383 have tested positive. Of that number, 23 per cent – 549 people – have been hospitalized. 

There are now more than 7,000 cases of coronavirus in the US and 121 people have died.  

Healthcare workers are terrified that soon, the sheer number of people needing intensive care will overwhelm hospitals across the country. 

Field and expeditionary hospitals have also been advised to prepare to be deployed, White House officials said on Wednesday at a press conference where President Trump admitted that the virus – which he is insisting on calling the Chinese Flu – ‘snuck up on us’. 

The ships alone cannot address the shortage of beds, ventilators or hospital staff that is looming but they are the first indicators of military intervention in the crisis.  

The USNS Comfort which is on its way to New York to serve as a floating hospital that will treat coronavirus patients 

The ships will be staffed with Navy doctors and will be held in harbors to keep patients separate from others

The ships will be staffed with Navy doctors and will be held in harbors to keep patients separate from others 

HOSPITAL SHIP USNS COMFORT WAS DEPLOYED TO NEW YORK CITY AFTER THE 9/11 ATTACKS

USNS Comfort arrived Pier 92 on the west side of Manhattan about 8.30pm on September 14, 2011, three days after the attacks.

It was staffed with 300 Navy medical personnel, and 61 civilian mariners who were deployed to assist with the medical care of injured survivors, but their mission turned logistical as they cared for first responders working at ground zero. 

In the week after its arrival, it provided food and shelter to more than 10,000 relief workers.

It provided 30,000 meals to first responders, and did 4,000lbs of laundry. When it needed to, torn clothing and boots were replaced with donations from the Red Cross.

The ship’s clinic saw 561 emergency disaster workers for cuts, respiratory ailments, fractures and other minor injuries. It also provided 500 mental health consults to help relief workers mentally prepare before they headed back to ground zero.

USNS Comfort arrived Pier 92 on the west side of Manhattan about 8.30pm on September 14, 2011, three days after the attacks

USNS Comfort arrived Pier 92 on the west side of Manhattan about 8.30pm on September 14, 2011, three days after the attacks

The crew were not permitted to leave the pier where USNS Comfort was docked, but on one occassion Navy Commander Ralph Jones – director of surgical Services on board the ship, and a surgical oncologist – led a team of four people to the disaster site to assess the damage.

‘All of a sudden, I had about 40 or 50 firefighters gathered around me, crying. They needed help and a break, but they were afraid that if they left the scene, they woulnd’t be able to come back.’

The ship was also designated by the City of New York as the secure location for emergency landings for VIP personnel.

It also supported military efforts in the region, safely conducting 16 launch and recoveries for U.S. Marine Corps SH-60s and U.S. Army Black Hawks, as well as NYPD Police H-1 Aircraft. 

It provided 30,000 meals to first responders, and did 4,000lbs of laundry. When it needed to, torn clothing and boots were replaced with donations from the Red Cross

It provided 30,000 meals to first responders, and did 4,000lbs of laundry. When it needed to, torn clothing and boots were replaced with donations from the Red Cross

 – SOURCE: MILITARY HEALTH SYSTEM

‘I look at it as a war time. That’s what we’re fighting. It’s a very tough situation. 

‘You have to close parts of the economy that six weeks ago were the best we’ve ever had. 

‘But we’re doing it and doing it well. The American people have been incredible. For the most part, they’ve been really incredible. 

The government’s official advice is for people to stay at home, work from home, avoid groups of 10 or more and stay 6ft away from people at all times. 

They are not implementing a full lock-down like in Italy or France. 

Instead, they are urging people to take the necessary precautions now in an effort to stop the virus’s growth. Along with a shortage of ventilators and hospital beds, there is a severe shortage of medical masks and gloves. 

Hospitals are now being told to delay all non-essential procedures. 

‘We need millions of masks, we need ventilators. We have ventilators but we need a lot more,’ President Trump said.

Vice President Mike Pence said there were 10,000 ventilators in a ‘stockpile’ currently but that the government had ordered ‘thousands more’.  

On Wednesday morning, an ER doctor in Seattle told Good Morning America that the hospital ‘down the street’ from him had run out of ventilators. 

The government is now putting together a stimulus plan to try to alleviate the economic hardship the pandemic is causing. 

The Surgeon General Jerome Adams said that the practical advice for Americans was to stay at home for the next 15 days and avoid social gatherings but it would ‘likely’ take longer to stunt the spread of the virus. 

‘If we can get America to pitch in for the next 15 days, we can flatten the curve. 

‘Fifteen days is likely not going to be enough to get us all the way through, but we need to lean into it now to bend the curve over the next 15 days and at that point we will reassess. 

‘What you’re talking about is our 15 days to stop the spread. 

‘We want them to avoid gatherings of 10 or more, unnecessary travel, work from home if at all possible. 

‘When we look at the data, our numbers are where Italy’s are two to three weeks ago. 

‘Do we want to go the way of Italy or do we want to go the way of South Korea and China who were actually able to level off the peak and decrease the numbers,’ he said, referring to the two countries’ harsh approach which involved people self-containing weeks ago and staying home.

Adams said he felt the nation was ‘turning a corner’ in the amount of people taking the virus seriously. 

‘We’re starting to turn a corner. People really are [sensing the urgency]. 

‘I have a 15-year-old son and a 14-year-old son at home.  

‘They don’t care what dad says, even if he is the surgeon general, but by golly do they know that Kevin Durant just got diagnosed with the coronavirus and they’re taking it seriously,’ he said, referring to the Brooklyn Nets player who, along with three teammates, has the virus. 

‘We want people to understand; chances are you don’t have it and chances are if you do have it you will recover.’ 

The US has now closed its border with Canada to all non-essential crossings.

Trump said there was no ‘tipping point’ for the decision that he and Trudeau decided it was necessary. The president reiterated on Wednesday how unprecedented the system is.

The USNS Mercy is also being dispatched and will dock somewhere along the West Coast - its destination has not yet been decided

The USNS Mercy is also being dispatched and will dock somewhere along the West Coast – its destination has not yet been decided 

In a file image, a health worker adjusts a lamp in one of the operating rooms on board the USNS Mercy

In a file image, a health worker adjusts a lamp in one of the operating rooms on board the USNS Mercy 

The deployment of the two ships is among the first steps the government is taking to mobilize the country's military to help fight the virus

The deployment of the two ships is among the first steps the government is taking to mobilize the country’s military to help fight the virus

There are now more than 7,000 cases of coronavirus in the US and it is fast spreading; 115 people have died so far 

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the virus 'snuck up on us' but that the country would 'win' the fight against it

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the virus ‘snuck up on us’ but that the country would ‘win’ the fight against it

‘Nobody ever had to test the entire nation for the flu… this has never been done before,’ he said. The government is partnering with the private sector to push out new, efficient tests. 

Trump on Wednesday referred to the virus again as the 'Chinese Virus' and said he'd handled it well from the beginning

Trump on Wednesday referred to the virus again as the ‘Chinese Virus’ and said he’d handled it well from the beginning 

What is trying to be avoided is a full shut down. 

Cuomo slammed the ‘fear and panic’ generated by suggestions that it was on the cards at his own press conference, saying: ‘The fear, the panic is a bigger problem than the virus. 

‘All of the restrictions are statewide, they will track the trajectory of the disease. 

‘If we get that spread down, and we can handle it in the healthcare system we’ll relax them as soon as possible.

‘Past data – China, South Korea – shows if you take dramatic action sooner then you recover sooner.’

Cuomo had contradicted the mayor Tuesday evening, saying there will be no shelter in place order issued. Hours earlier de Blasio warned 8 million New Yorkers to be prepared for it.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on Wednesday that people needed to stay at home for at least 15 days to make a dent in the spread of coronavirus but that it will likely be longer and that the country will have to 'reassess'

Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on Wednesday that people needed to stay at home for at least 15 days to make a dent in the spread of coronavirus but that it will likely be longer and that the country will have to ‘reassess’ 

Gov. Cuomo said he had ‘very good dialogue with President Donald Trump, telling reporters Wednesday morning: ‘We are fighting the same war, this is a war, we are in the same trench.

Those comments directly contradicted Mayor de Blasio, who confirmed that as of Tuesday evening the number of coronavirus cases in the Big Apple has surged to 923 with 10 deaths just hours. 

He warned cases in the city will soon hit 10,000.

‘We’ve lost 10 people already it’s increasing in a way, I don’t even think our leaders in Washington begin to understand this but here in New York, we have the most cases of any state in the country’, de Blasio said Wednesday morning.

‘So what I was saying to people is get ready for the possibility.

‘It’s a decision we would only make with the state of New York, of course. 

‘But people have to realize at this point that this disease is going to put many, many people, thousands and tens of thousands of people’s lives in danger.’ 

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