USS Comfort Leaves NYC, Coronavirus Patients Discharged
NEW YORK CITY — The USS Comfort has left New York City. The comfort had been docked in Manhattan since the end of March to help support local hospitals as they struggled to contain the influx of patients from the coronavirus outbreak.
The New York Police Department posted footage of the Navy ship as it left Manhattan Thursday:
HAPPENING NOW: @USNavy #Comfort pulls out of Pier 90 in Manhattan. The NYPD Harbor Unit, as well as the @USCG @USCGNortheast will provide a security zone around the hospital ship as it heads down the Hudson River @NYPDnews @NYPDShea pic.twitter.com/enc0DRmmem
— NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) April 30, 2020
The Navy vessel was escorted down the Hudson by officers with the NYPD Harbor Unit. The unit flew the Navy's flag as they performed the escort, and NYPD and Fire Deparment employees reportedly lined the shore near the pier to pay respects and wish the ship well on its journey.
The USS Comfort now heads to its home port in Norfolk, Virginia where it will stock up on supplies and prepare for any potential future deployments.
The USS Comfort had been docked at Pier 90 since March 30. The Navy says that during its time in NYC the hospital ship treated 182 coronavirus patients, all of whom were discharged over the past week. The ship is capable of housing up to 1,000 patients.
The Navy first announced the ship would be leaving New York on Saturday, April 25. At the time, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman called the departure "a sure sign of modest progress in mitigating the virus in the nation’s hardest hit city."
Despite the Comfort's departure there is still one temporary hospital set up to catch patient overflow from others: a temporary FEMA hospital remains in place at the Manhattan convention center. That hospital can treat around 500 patients at a time, and has already treated more than 1,100 patients over the past month.
This article originally appeared on the New York City Patch
