The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) taking on supplies on March 20, 2020, at Naval…Read More
WASHINGTON: More than 70 million Americans, nearly a fifth of the nation’s population, are in lockdown as the United States wages an unprecedented battle against the Covid-19 pandemic amid a brutal unmasking of the country’s inadequacies and unpreparedness.
Hotels, stadiums, and parking lots are being turned into hospitals and clinics and the military and the National Guard are being deployed as the virus is threatening to overrun inadequate infrastructure in parts of the country, notably New York City, which is being described as epicenter of the outbreak.
President Trump declared the state a major disaster area on Friday after infections doubled in 24 hours, enabling the state to access the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s $42 billion fund. It is the first time in US history a president has declared a major disaster over a public health threat.
The US Army Corps of Engineers is fanning out to convert hotels and college dorms into clinics as lines were reported in front of some NYC hospitals. The military’s role in the crisis is expanding by the hour as the civilian infrastructure is unable to cope with the projections.
Meanwhile, in another instance of how close the virus is hovering around centers of power with th