New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday asked President Donald Trump to transition the USNS Comfort, docked at New York City, to begin transitioning to treat coronavirus patients.
The Mercy-class hospital ship was originally set up to aid with the overflow of non-COVID patients, but those cases have fallen off amid the citywide shutdown.
Now the ship's crew is quickly preparing to transition the hospital to serve as a field hospital for coronavirus patients, similar to the operation underway at the Javits Convention Center.
Indeed, the two federally run hospitals plan to coordinate their work to take advantage of their respective strengths and weaknesses.
"We're going to balance the levels of care required between the two stations," Joseph O'Brien, commodore of the Comfort's COVID response in New York City, told Cheddar.
Patients who are convalescing from coronavirus will likely go to the Javits Center, while more difficult cases will be funneled into the Comfort.
"We're taking some of the higher-complexity cases on board, due to the fact that we have a fully staffed hospital," O'Brien said.
The crew is currently working to reconfigure the ship so that it can accommodate coronavirus patients, which involves cutting the capacity in half from 1,000 to 500 beds.
This is necessary to create space so that more transmissions don't take place on the ship, O'Brien said.
One crew member of the Comfort so far has tested positive for coronavirus.
O'Brien said the entire crew was screened, not tested, five days before disembarking for New York City. Add in nine days at sea, and that almost meets the window of self-isolation. But, he said "that's the difference between screening and testing."
"Even though we did everything right. We were ahead of the curve. We were really stringent in our preps," he said. "That's what happens when you don't obey the order to stay inside."
As the US braces for the what's the follow after the end of the Title 43 pandemic-related restrictions, experts discuss the ramifications with Cheddar News.
A man who kept a chokehold around the neck of an agitated fellow passenger in the New York City subway has turned himself in on a manslaughter charge.
New York State Senator John Liu spoke with Cheddar News about Asian-American representation in politics, his bill to make Asian-American history mandatory in schools, and the ongoing hate crimes against his community. State Sen. Liu also discussed the debate over student loan forgiveness and gave his take on artificial intelligence in education.
The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing Thursday on the cannabis bill the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking — a first step toward what advocates hope will be a full vote on the Senate Floor.
New blood donations rules will allow sexually active gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships to give in the FDA guidelines ease decades-old restrictions put in place to protect the blood supply from HIV.
During a contentious CNN town hall Wednesday night, former President Donald Trump dug in on his lies about the 2020 election, downplayed the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, and repeatedly insulted the woman whom a civil jury this week found him liable of sexually abusing and defaming.
Criminal defense attorney Tamara Holder joined Cheddar News to break down the charges that New York Republican Congressman George Santos is facing. "When the feds come after you -- and this is for anyone, a politician or not -- they generally have already built their case before they indict you," Holder said, regarding the timeline of Rep. Santos' arrest.
Officials in Missouri's largest city are moving to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state officials who are intent on banning it for minors and restricting it for adults.
The Biden administration on Thursday will begin denying asylum to migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through.
Federal health advisers said Wednesday that a decades-old birth control pill should be sold without a prescription, paving the way for a likely U.S. approval of the first over-the-counter contraceptive medication.
