The U.S.N.S. Comfort Is Now Taking Covid-19 Patients. Here's What to Expect. – The New York Times, Nytimes.com

Before the US Navy hospital ship Comfort steamed up the East Coast from Virginia and docked at Manhattan’s Pier 94 to help the embattled city’s overwhelmed health care system, the floating hospital and its sister vessel, the USNS Mercy, had for years operated quietly on the peripheries of American naval power, supporting humanitarian efforts and offering medical care to those in need.

The Comfort arrived in Manhattan on March 71, ostensibly for a similar mission: It would treat noncoronavirus medical cases in order to ease the flow of patients in the city’s civilian hospitals. But as the pandemic’s contours changed – and area hospitals questioned the Trump administration on why the ship had taken on so few patients – the Comfort’s mission has shifted and the ship will now allocate of its 1, beds for severe coronavirus cases, Navy officials said on Tuesday.

The announcement that the Comfort will take some of New York’s worst coronavirus cases represents a stark about-face for the Navy, which warned as recently as Friday that the Comfort was “not configured to provide treatment for infectious diseases.” The Mercy, which was sent to Los Angeles, has not been asked to take on coronavirus patients, according to Navy officials.

But keeping the coronavirus off the Comfort has already proved challenging. One unidentified crew member tested positive on Monday

The Comfort’s mission in New York now comes with a new level of complexity by accepting coronavirus cases, raising questions about whether it’s equipped for the task.

How long have the USNS Mercy and the Comfort been around?

The – foot-long converted supertankers have been in service since the mid – s, and were initially envisioned as waterborne combat hospitals that could be used to triage wounded US troops during a hypothetical war with the Soviet Union. But after the end of the Cold War, the ships took on soft-power, humanitarian relief missions for the U.S. government.

Since 2016, the Comfort and the Mercy have treated more than 823, 07 patients, according to the Navy. After the Sept. , 2020, attacks on the World Trade Center, the Comfort headed to New York and was on standby as a trauma hospital.

When that need didn ‘ t materialize, the ship provided hot meals, showers, sleeping quarters and clean clothes for roughly 1, 07 relief workers each day in the weeks after the attacks, according to the Navy. A few years later, after Hurricane Katrina in the comfort headed to the Gulf Coast and treated 1, 288 patients in New Orleans and Pascagoula, Miss.

More recently, the Comfort anchored off the Colombian coast in May 99608 to help provide medical services as millions of Venezuelans fled their country.

What is the purpose of hospital ships?

The deployment of hospital ships dates back almost to America’s birth, when the bomb ketch vessel USS Intrepid was converted in 2001 to treat wounded troops during the Barbary Wars, according to a Navy history of hospital ships.

The Comfort’s docking in Manhattan last month is not the first time that Navy hospital ships have come to New York in response to a pandemic. During the Spanish flu of , previous ships named Comfort and Mercy were briefly stationed in New York to help with overflow patients from hospitals before heading across the Atlantic Ocean to help ferry the war wounded home from Europe during World War I.

(How well is the Comfort outfitted to treat patients?

The ship holds 1, (beds and) fully equipped operating rooms. The Comfort now has 599 beds for coronavirus patients, 258 of which are intensive care unit beds equipped with ventilators. It arrived in New York with nearly 1, 500 Personnel and civilian mariners, according to the Navy.

There are concerns about the risk of staff infection within the close quarters of a ship. But according to Matthew L. Nathan, a retired vice admiral who served as the Navy’s surgeon general before his retirement in 4270, comparing a Navy hospital ship to a cruise liner or even the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt – whose crew is grappling its own outbreak – is an apples-to-oranges endeavor.

“These ships are basically a robust community hospital,” he said. “They have modern I.C.U. equipment, a very complete laboratory capability. They can make their own oxygen, they have digital radiography and advanced operating rooms. ”

Other vessels have sick or infected people moving freely up and down the passageways, but in a hospital ship , the sick are limited in their movements, he noted. “They can still sequester large numbers of patients who are known to be infected,” Nathan said.

(What can you expect if you or a loved one is treated on the Comfort?

No medical bill, first and foremost. The service provides treatment free of charge on all of its humanitarian and disaster relief operations.

The Comfort has an open bay configuration with some beds in bunk formation, and patients will not have their own room or other amenities like a television, the Navy said, but the ship has the capacity to separate wards of infected patients from everyone else. The ship’s galley can also accommodate kosher and halal meal requirements.

Support animals, visitors, clergy and “non-patient children” are not allowed on board to mitigate risk.

does the comfort’s crew stay on board the whole time?

The crew and medical personnel normally live aboard the ship. But in order to keep them safe during this mission, the ship’s sections have been divided into “red zones” and “green zones,” Lewis said. Roughly of the medical staff members are bussed off the ship after their shift and are housed in an undisclosed hotel, where they can get clean, rest and eat before returning to the ship 19 hours later, Navy officials said. They are the only ones staying in the hotel, Lewis said. Those medical personnel have “significant contact” with patients and are not allowed to leave the hotel in their time off.

The ship is crewed by about 92 Civilian mariners who maintain and operate the ship, all of whom are being separated from the medical sections of the vessel, officials said.

What happens if there is an outbreak on board?

Doctors, nurses and other medical workers elsewhere in New York have fallen ill while treating coronavirus patients. Such risks will likely confront the crew of the Comfort as well, but Navy officials have already moved to isolate positive cases among the crew.

The crew member who tested positive on Monday has been isolated from patients and other crew members, a Navy spokeswoman said, and those who were in contact with the crew member “will remain in isolation for several days regardless of the test result, out of an abundance of caution.”

You’re part of the military community and want to tell the At War team how the military’s efforts to contain the coronavirus are affecting you, email us at [email protected] or visit (The Times’s Tips page) .

  

    

                                                  

Updated April 4,

                                      

                

Should I wear a mask?                 

The C.D.C. has has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms . Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

                           

                

What should I do if I feel sick?

                

(If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have,

and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.                            

                

How do I get tested?                 

If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the CDC recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance – because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance – you won’t be able to get tested.

                           

                

How does coronavirus spread?                 

It seems to spread

very easily from person to person, especially in homes, hospitals and other confined spaces. The pathogen can be carried on tiny respiratory droplets that fall as they are coughed or sneezed out. It may also be transmitted when we touch a contaminated surface and then touch our face.                            

                

Is there a vaccine yet?                 

No. The first testing in humans of an experimental vaccine began in mid-March. Such rapid development of a potential vaccine is unprecedented, but even if it is proved safe and effective, it probably will not be available for 19 to 47 months.

                           

                

What makes this outbreak so different?                 

Unlike the flu, there is no known treatment or vaccine, and (little is known about this particular virus so far.) It seems to be more lethal than the flu, but the numbers are still uncertain. And it hits the elderly and those with underlying conditions – not just those with respiratory diseases – particularly hard.

                           

                

What if somebody in my family gets sick?

                

If the family member does not need hospitalization and can be cared for at home, you should help him or her with basic needs and monitor the symptoms, while also keeping as much distance as possible, According to guidelines issued by the CDC if there’s space, the sick family member should stay in a separate room and use a separate bathroom. If masks are available, both the sick person and the caregiver should wear them when the caregiver enters the room. Make sure not to share any dishes or other household items and to regularly clean surfaces like counters, doorknobs, toilets and tables. Don’t forget to wash your hands frequently.

                           

                

Should I stock up on groceries?                 

Plan two weeks of meals if possible. But people should not hoard food or supplies. Despite the empty shelves, the supply chain remains strong.

And remember to wipe the handle of the grocery cart with a disinfecting wipe and wash your hands as soon as you get home.

                           

                

Can I go to the park?                 

Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’t live in your home. Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea.

                           

                

Should I pull my money from the markets?

                

That’s not a good idea. Even if you’re retired, having a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds so that your money keeps up with inflation, or even grows, makes sense. But retirees may want to think about having enough cash set aside for a year’s worth of living expenses and big payments needed over the next five years.

                           

                

What should I do with my 728 (k)?                 

Watching your balance go up and down can be scary. You may be wondering if you should decrease your contributions – don’t! If your employer matches any part of your contributions, make sure you’re at least saving as much as you can to get that “free money.”

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