On Saturday, President Trump visited Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia to send off the USNS Comfort as the hospital ship departs for New York City. The ship is stocked with medical supplies and has 1,000 beds and other equipment to help aide New York in its response to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
The ship has 12 fully-equipped operating rooms, two oxygen-producing plants, a pharmacy, a medical laboratory, an optometry lab, a CAT-scan, digital radiological services, and a helicopter pad, according to the Navy. Once in New York, the ship will provide medical services to non-coronavirus patients, freeing up New York's hospitals as they continue their battle against COVID-19.
'We are marshaling the full power of the American nation, economic, scientific, medical, and military to vanquish the virus," Trump said. "We will stop at nothing to protect the people of New York."
The president said the ship is "stocked to the brim with equipment, medicines and everything you can think of," and described the ship as a "70,000-ton message of hope and solidarity to the incredible people of New York."
"We are here for you. We are fighting for you. We are with you all the way, and we always will be," Trump reassured New Yorkers. "You have the unwavering support of the entire nation, the entire government, and the entire American people."
The Comfort was undergoing planned maintenance when it was ordered back into service with a new mission of providing much-needed medical assistance to New York. The Comfort's sister ship, the USNS Mercy, was dispatched to Los Angeles to fulfill a similar mission in California.
Trump announced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will welcome the Comfort when it arrives at Pier 90 in New York City on Monday.
LIVE: President @realDonaldTrump at Send-Off for USNS Comfort https://t.co/ovTIY8tpjb
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 28, 2020