The USNS Mercy departed the Port of Los Angeles last week to return to its home port of San Diego after seven weeks supporting COVID-19 relief efforts in the region. The 1,000-bed U.S. Navy hospital ship arrived in Los Angeles on March 27 to serve as a referral hospital for non-COVID patients so local hospitals would be available for the expected surge of coronavirus patients. Despite its 1,000-bed capacity, the USNS Mercy treated just 77 patients, with the last being discharge on May 5, and none of the patients were COVID-19 positive.
