Field hospital for COVID-19 patients opens doors in Central Park

Early spring is one of the best times in Central Park – flowers are blooming, trees are coming into leaf, and the birds are singing. However, this year is different by one thing – there are no people to enjoy them. In fact, the only activity is near Fifth Avenue and 99th Street, at the East Meadow, where a field hospital has popped up.

The field hospital consists of 14 tents with 68 beds. It will be operated by 75 health care volunteers, and will include oxygen, water and even a pharmacy. It is constructed to aid the effort of Mount Sinai Brooklyn and Mount Sinai Queens. Brooklyn and Queens are the two most damaged regions from the current outbreak.

The new field hospital was constructed in just less than 48 hours and will be managed by 48 hours by Samaritan’s Purse. They are known as a non-profit charity, evolved with crisis response, disaster relief and medical missions around the world.

One of the major problems of New York health care is the lack of space, equipped to take care of COVID patients. In order to secure such space, a lot of improvised hospitals are opening up. The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, college dorms and a cruise ship terminal are supposed to start housing patients.

New York City is in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, with more than 2,373 deaths, and more than 50,000 positive cases. A bright glimmer of hope is that more than 11,000 people around the US have successfully recovered, and are healthy again!

We, at Central Park tours, urge you to follow the quarantine plan, stay safe and keep your loved ones safe, too.