In New York, a makeshift hospital in Central Park

New York City is the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States. To help hospitals cope with the influx of patients, an evangelical group is building a field hospital in the heart of Manhattan.

“Fever Pitch”, the “fever flare”, title the New York Post in one of its edition of Monday March 30. The New York tabloid dares a play on words referring to the expression to pitch a tent to evoke the construction of a field hospital in Manhattan, in the middle of Central Park.

According to the daily, an evangelical Christian group began on Sunday March 29 to install the 14 tents of this field hospital in the eastern part of the gigantic New York park, “Along the 5^e Avenue, with the blessing of the city ”, to help cope with the influx of patients suffering from Covid-19.

New York is considered the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States. The city recorded 98 deaths on Sunday – for more than 33,000 cases detected in the territory of the town and nearly 1,000 deaths statewide – and in the district of Queens, the most affected, public hospitals are overwhelmed.

14 tents to accommodate 68 patients

It is in this context that the evangelical group Samaritan’s Purse unloaded in Central Park “Four material trailers, including tents, beds, personal protective equipment and ten respirators”.

According to New York Post, the makeshift hospital will mobilize “A team of 70 healthcare professionals from all over the United States”, which will be led by Dr Elliott Tenpenny. This last “Has already treated patients with Ebola virus in West Africa, Syrian refugees in Iraq and victims of the earthquake in Ecuador”.

“Honestly, this is the most unlikely place we have ever been in”, the doctor told the tabloid.

I never imagined that we would come to New York with a facility like this. But New York never thought it would face a pandemic either. ”

The hospital, whose 14 tents will accommodate 68 patients, is due to open on the morning of Tuesday, March 31. According to the New York Post, its teams will treat patients who will be transferred there from Mount Sinai Hospital, a large New York hospital located near Central Park.

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