KEY POINTS

  • USNS Comfort docks at NYC harbor
  • Hospital ship would assist shore-based hospitals in treating patients
  • 1,000 rooms; 12 operating rooms; medical lab on board
  • 1,200 medical staff on board
  • Sister ship USNS Mercy in LA since Mar. 23

Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort departed from Virginia over the weekend and arrived at the New York City harbor on Monday to provide medical aid amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ship featured 1,000 beds, a dozen operating rooms, a medical laboratory and a pharmacy among other facilities, and according to the White House, on board were 1,200 "doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, x-ray technicians, orderlies and other medical staff", ready to support New York City's medical community and "conserve hospital capacity by treating some non-COVID-19 patients", Fox News reported.

According to NBC New York, the ship also carried oxygen-producing plants on board.

While the Comfort was undergoing repairs, its sister ship, the USNS Mercy sailed west on March 23 and is currently serving as a referral hospital for non-COVID-19 patients at the city of Los Angeles and provided relief for the land-based hospital staff who can now focus on treating coronavirus cases.

Both hospital ships were built back in the 1970s and were originally oil tankers before being converted onto hospital ships in the 1980s and turned over to the Navy.

According to the Navy, the USNS Comfort was also in New York City in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and spent three weeks providing assistance to first responders at Ground Zero.

USNS Mercy
Supplies of bottled water wait to be loaded into the San Diego-based hospital ship USNS Mercy as it prepares for possible deployment to typhoon-stricken areas of the Philippines from its port in San Diego, November 15, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Coronavirus