Pentagon Exploring Using US Navy Hospital Ship To Treat COVID-19 Patients - Official

Pentagon Exploring Using US Navy Hospital Ship to Treat COVID-19 Patients - Official

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2020) The US Department of Defense is exploring the possibility of treating novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients aboard the Navy hospital ships docked in New York City and Los Angeles, spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters.

"We've already taken steps at the Javits Center, in New Orleans and Dallas, those facilities that we've built, we've already given the approval for those to be used for COVID-19 patients. With the [hospital ships] Comfort and the Mercy, it's something we're looking at. I think the Secretary [Mark Esper] said it and the [Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley] said it, it's something we're looking at," Hoffman said on Friday.

Hoffman, however, noted that the vessels are a less than ideal place to treat patients with highly infectious diseases, citing as an example the rapid COVID-19 spread on cruise ships.

Hoffman added that following treatment of coronavirus-infected patients a ship would have to undergo extensive cleaning, which would limit its ability to respond to other hotspots.

Earlier on Friday, Milley said in an interview to Fox news that the military is "reassessing" the scope of treatment aboard the Navy hospital vessels and that the Defense Department is conducting risk assessment on the issue.

Previously, the commanding officers Patrick Amersbach and John Rotruck of the hospital ships Comfort and Mercy would be accepting only non-COVID-19 patients to take the load off hospitals swamped by such patients.

On Monday, the Comfort docked in Manhattan to free up hospital space by providing 1,000 beds to treat non-coronavirus patients.