The USNS Comfort, a Navy hospital ship that has delivered humanitarian aid around the world, arrived in New York City on Monday to provide much-needed medical resources amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The ship will help ease the burden on New York's health care system by housing about 1,000 patients who require urgent treatment but are not infected with coronavirus.
The Comfort's arrival comes 10 days after MSNBC's Rachel Maddow scoffed at the idea that federal resources would reach New York City at all.
"The Navy hospital ships the president made such a big deal of, the Comfort and the Mercy, there's no sign that they'll be anywhere on site helping out anywhere in the country for weeks yet," Maddow said dismissively on her show. "He said one of those ships would be operational in New York Harbor by next week. That's nonsense."
President Donald J. Trump described the Comfort as a "70,000-ton message of hope and solidarity to the incredible people of New York," while Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D., N.Y.) hailed the ship's arrival in New York Harbor. "This day will be remembered," said Cuomo. "The hospital capacity we add now will save lives."