The USNS Mercy, one of two military hospital ships brought into service to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, is no longer taking patients at its pierside location at the Port of Los Angeles.
At a briefing on Friday, chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said hospital capacity in Los Angeles is sufficient to meet the demands of treating COVID-19 patients along with any others needing medical attention.
Mr. Hoffman called the decision a “welcome sign that the American public is following CDC guidelines and that the number of COVID-19 cases is decreasing.”
It wasn’t immediately clear Friday whether the USNS Mercy will return to its home base in San Diego. The USNS Comfort, its sister ship, left New York on Thursday and is now in route to Norfolk where it will be readied for additional assignments, officials said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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