The US Navy hospital ships Comfort and Mercy currently deployed to New York and Los Angeles are accepting only a small number of non-coronavirus (COVID-19) patients, commanding officers Patrick Amersbach and John Rotruck told reporters on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2020) The US Navy hospital ships Comfort and Mercy currently deployed to New York and Los Angeles are accepting only a small number of non-coronavirus (COVID-19) patients, commanding officers Patrick Amersbach and John Rotruck told reporters on Thursday.
Comfort currently treats only three patients, while Mercy has 15 patients, Amersbash and Rotruck said.
"Right now Mercy's mission is to accept only non-COVID-19 patients," Rotruck said. "If FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] in cooperation with the state of California decide that our mission should change and we should start accepting COVID-19 patients, we will take actions on that."
Amersbach confirmed that current rules allow the Comfort to accept only non-coronavirus patients.
"If that changes in the future then we will adjust accordingly," he said.
Both commanding officers declined to speculate when they may be directed to accept COVID-19 patients, but warned that in such a case they will have to separate people infected with the novel coronavirus from those facing other medical issues.
The Comfort and Mercy have 1,000 beds each, according to the US Navy.
