The city is preparing for an expected surge in coronavirus cases.
The Los Angeles Convention Center began shifting from a place that holds major showcase events into a temporary field hospital on Sunday evening thanks to the help of California’s National Guard. The makeshift infirmary is an effort to relieve the pressure that medical centers across the nation are facing treating the surging numbers in confirmed coronavirus patients.
We are utilizing every resource to confront the COVID-19 crisis: @ConventionLA will now become a federal medical station, led by @HHSGov and @USNationalGuard to help relieve our nearby hospitals.
Thank you to our partners for your support during this national pandemic. pic.twitter.com/RlRWmK6dmT
— Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) March 30, 2020
Rows of hospital beds and medical supplies now fill the convention center, though it’s not clear as to when the field hospital will begin treating patients. In a brief held on Sunday evening, Mayor Garcetti stated that the hospital will be run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Additionally, the USS Mercy docked in a Los Angeles port on Friday afternoon to also aid in COVID-19 medical relief having already accepted its first three patients. The Mercy, however, does not plan to treat any patients infected by the virus and instead will screen future patients – as well as the medical staff and all personnel – for coronavirus symptoms prior to boarding in an attempt to prevent the spread of the novel virus throughout the ship.