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Military hospital ship leaves New York as virus cases decline

Published May 1, 2020
The U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort heads past lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center building under heavy fog as it leaves to return to its home port of Norfolk, Virginia, after treating patients during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New York, U.S., April 30, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
The U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort heads past lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center building under heavy fog as it leaves to return to its home port of Norfolk, Virginia, after treating patients during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New York, U.S., April 30, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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A US military hospital ship left New York on Thursday after a month in the city as coronavirus cases in America's epicentre continue to decline, AFP reports.

The USNS Comfort sailed out of a Manhattan pier shortly after midday in a low-key departure that contrasted sharply with the fanfare of its arrival.

President Donald Trump dispatched the 1,000-bed ship to the Big Apple as projections suggested New York state might need to double hospital beds to 110,000 for the peak of its coronavirus outbreak.

The US Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort heads past lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center building under heavy fog as it leaves to return to its home port of Norfolk, Virginia, after treating patients during the outbreak of coronavirus disease in New York City, New York, US, on April 30, 2020. — Reuters
The US Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort heads past lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center building under heavy fog as it leaves to return to its home port of Norfolk, Virginia, after treating patients during the outbreak of coronavirus disease in New York City, New York, US, on April 30, 2020. — Reuters

The ship was part of a massive operation to boost hospital capacity that included converting the Javits Convention Center and the home of the US Open tennis tournament into emergency field hospitals.

Tents for patients were also erected in Central Park.

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