President Trump touted the “incredible work” done by the Navy as he announced that a hospital ship will be departing for the coronavirus hot spot New York ahead of schedule.
Trump said during a Thursday White House news conference that the USNS Comfort would be leaving Virginia on Saturday and is expected to arrive in New York City on Monday. The president said the ship would provide much-needed medical facilities and resources for the city, which has had more than 20,000 cases of COVID-19.
“The incredible naval hospital ship, the USNS Comfort … will be under way to New York City on Saturday,” Trump announced. “So, it’s going to be leaving on Saturday rather than three weeks from now. And they did the maintenance quickly, and it was going to be there for quite a while longer.”
Trump teased a presidential visit to Norfolk, Virginia, where the ship is anchored.
“I think I’m going to go out, and I’ll kiss it goodbye. It’s in Virginia, as you know, and I will go, and we’ll be waving together,” Trump said referencing the media in the room.
“It’s an incredible piece of work. It’ll be landing at Pier 90 in Manhattan to provide hospital surge capacity for the New York metropolitan area,” Trump said. The president explained that, once the ship arrives, it might be used to hospitalize COVID-19 patients or could be used to house other patients to save room at hospitals for those with the coronavirus.
“They could do it either way, one way or the other, whichever one is best,” he said.
A White House press release following Thursday’s announcement said, “Over 1200 medical personnel and critical supplies will be onboard the vessel.”
“These doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, x-ray technicians, orderlies, and other medical staff will augment and support New York City’s medical community and conserve hospital capacity,” the release reads.
The president also said his team is working on publishing a new guidance on how to deal with the virus so that entities at the state and local level can work to stop the pandemic from spreading.
The United States has had more than 82,400 cases of the coronavirus and more than 1,100 deaths, according to the latest reading by the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
