New York: The US Navy hospital ship Comfort nearing end of its mission having been sent to relieve stress on New York City hospitals at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic is discharging or transferring its last 12 patients this weekend, according to Northwell Health, which provides operational assistance to the vessel.
The ship, docked at a Manhattan pier since March 30, will soon leave for its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia, where it will restock and be readied for another possible assignment, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said. He did not provide a date for the ship’s departure.
As of April 25, the 1,000-bed hospital ship had treated just 182 patients. There was just one patient left on the ship late on April 25 evening.
Originally deployed to care for patients without Coronavirus, the Comfort switched gears and started accepting them as the city’s hospitals became overrun with people suffering from the disease.
Hoffman said the Comfort’s impending departure “is a sure sign of modest progress in mitigating the virus in the nation’s hardest hit city and is a welcome sign.”
