# USNS Comfort, beds are full, they are leaving NY **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [April 28, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usns-comfort-beds-are-full-they-are-leaving-ny/852758 "2020-04-28T17:59:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usns-comfort-beds-are-full-they-are-leaving-ny/852758/1 "2020-04-28T17:59:03Z")
The USNS Comfort has been converted to 500 beds for Covid19 patients. According to this: > **[Trump says coronavirus hospital ship USNS Comfort will leave New York City](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/coronavirus-trump-says-hospital-ship-usns-comfort-will-leave-new-york-city.html?recirc=taboolainternal)** > > President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the USNS Comfort, the hospital ship deployed to provide emergency support for health-care workers battling the coronavirus, will depart its station in New York City to get "ready for its next mission." All beds are full. Besides because ‘Trump’, is there any reasoning as to why it’s leaving at this time? Trump does say he talked to Gov Cuomo though Cuomo has yet to confirm that AFAIK, and sorry can’t believe Trump, his credibility is about as low as it goes, so no reason was given. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usns-comfort-beds-are-full-they-are-leaving-ny/852758/2 "2020-04-28T18:02:17Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > The USNS Comfort has been converted to 500 beds for Covid19 patients. According to this: > > [https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/coronavirus-trump-says-hospital-ship-usns-comfort-will-leave-new-york-city.html?recirc=taboolainternal](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/coronavirus-trump-says-hospital-ship-usns-comfort-will-leave-new-york-city.html?recirc=taboolainternal) > > All beds are full. Besides because ‘Trump’, is there any reasoning as to why it’s leaving at this time? Trump does say he talked to Gov Cuomo though Cuomo has yet to confirm that AFAIK, and sorry can’t believe Trump, his credibility is about as low as it goes, so no reason was given. Huh…I was under the impression that it was being used for non-COVID-19 patients to free up bed space in hospitals. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usns-comfort-beds-are-full-they-are-leaving-ny/852758/3 "2020-04-28T18:07:12Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > The USNS Comfort has been converted to 500 beds for Covid19 patients. According to this: > > [https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/coronavirus-trump-says-hospital-ship-usns-comfort-will-leave-new-york-city.html?recirc=taboolainternal](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/coronavirus-trump-says-hospital-ship-usns-comfort-will-leave-new-york-city.html?recirc=taboolainternal) > > All beds are full. Besides because ‘Trump’, is there any reasoning as to why it’s leaving at this time? Trump does say he talked to Gov Cuomo though Cuomo has yet to confirm that AFAIK, and sorry can’t believe Trump, his credibility is about as low as it goes, so no reason was given. Your link doesn’t say “all beds are full”. It says, very specifically, that only 71 of the 500 beds are occupied. Frankly, it doesn’t sound like they need it there anymore. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usns-comfort-beds-are-full-they-are-leaving-ny/852758/4 "2020-04-28T18:12:05Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Your link doesn’t say “all beds are full”. It says, very specifically, that only 71 of the 500 beds are occupied. Frankly, it doesn’t sound like they need it there anymore. OK I misread it, we can close the thread ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usns-comfort-beds-are-full-they-are-leaving-ny/852758/5 "2020-04-28T18:18:09Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Huh…I was under the impression that it was being used for non-COVID-19 patients to free up bed space in hospitals. AIUI, that was the original intent, but then it was reconfigured for CoVid since at the time there was still the worry that the outbreak would completely overrun landside resources. This is similar to what happened with the \*Comfort \*in Puerto Rico after the hurricane disaster – it’s physically complicated \*\*\*and \*\*\*involves a lot of extra paperwork to transfer a civilian patient to a hospital ship parked offshore so it ends up being underutilized unless the landside facilities are really overwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usns-comfort-beds-are-full-they-are-leaving-ny/852758/6 "2020-04-28T18:18:55Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > AIUI, that was the original intent, but then it was reconfigured for CoVid since at the time there was still the worry that the outbreak would completely overrun landside resources. Ah ok. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usns-comfort-beds-are-full-they-are-leaving-ny/852758/7 "2020-04-28T19:18:09Z")
[This New York Times article](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/ny-coronavirus-usns-comfort.html) talks about some reasons why the hospital ship wasn’t as useful as hoped. It was built to treat battlefield injuries (gunshot wounds, bomb blast trauma) and has narrow cots instead of hospital beds, as civilians would expect. And the patients couldn’t be sent directly to the ship but had to go to a hospital first and then be transferred to the ship. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usns-comfort-beds-are-full-they-are-leaving-ny/852758/8 "2020-04-28T20:59:21Z")
reported (Myself) as I misread the article I linked to, which does answer my question and this thread as my OP states is misleading. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usns-comfort-beds-are-full-they-are-leaving-ny/852758/9 "2020-04-28T21:41:11Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > reported > > (Myself) as I misread the article I linked to, which does answer my question and this thread as my OP states is misleading. Closed at request of OP.