OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:23 AM PT — Tuesday, April 7, 2020
U.S. Navy officials confirmed a crew member aboard the USNS Comfort has tested positive for the coronavirus. This came after the Comfort and USNS Mercy
began treating COVID-19 patients in New York and Los Angeles
respectively. Officials have said the case will not impact medical
operations.On Monday, the Defense Department said it’s expanded the mission of both hospital ships to accept all patients going forward. This change was made after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) requested additional support to manage the high number of cases in his state.
“If we determine that they have coronavirus then we will isolate them and right now in many cases, if we think they might, we’re isolating them proactively until we get the test results back going forward,” explained Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, Joint Staff Surgeon for the Defense Department. “So, yes we have the ability to isolate a small number on each of the ships and we are using that as we go forward.”
For his part, President Trump has confirmed that if New York or Los Angeles need the ships to treat coronavirus patients then they should do exactly that.
