U.S. Northern Command, in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is leading the Department of Defense’s response to COVID-19 efforts in the continental United States.

“Our hospital ship USNS Mercy has arrived in the Port of Long Beach, outside of Los Angeles, and received her first patients today, while her sister ship, USNS Comfort is scheduled to arrive in New York City tomorrow,” said Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command. “Additionally, we are deploying three Army field hospitals to Washington State and New Jersey which will be up and running by April 2. We are also preparing to deploy a large Navy medical team from Jacksonville, Fla., to expand medical capabilities where needed.” Below is a current snapshot of current DOD support through U.S. Northern Command to FEMA, as well as state and local partners:

 Deployed two USNS Hospital Ships:

o USNS Mercy arrived in the port of Long Beach, outside of Los Angeles, on Friday, March 27.They began accepting non-COVID-19 patients today.

o The USNS Comfort departed for New York City on 28 Mar and is scheduled to arrive Monday, March 30.

o Both the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy have the ability to host up to 1,000 patients. This includes 12 operating rooms, 20 post-anesthesia beds and 80 Intensive Care Unit beds.

 Deploying three Army field hospitals

o The 627th Hospital Center from Ft. Carson, Colorado, with the ability to provide up to 248 beds beginning 2 April, deployed to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington in support of medical efforts in the Seattle area.

o The 531st Hospital Center from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, with the ability to provide up to 148 beds beginning 2 April, deployed to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey in support of medical efforts in the New York City area.

o The 9th Hospital Center from Ft. Hood, Texas, with the ability to provide 136 beds beginning 2 April, deployed to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey in support of medical efforts in the New York City area.

 450-person Navy Medical Unit has been put on “Prepare to Deploy” orders, and they will soon deploy to Texas and New Orleans to expand the medical capabilities in those states in

the next few days.

 Approved three Department of Defense installations to support FEMA as Base Support Installations, providing FEMA with staging and storage areas for their response operations.The approved installations are:

o Beale Air Force Base, California

o Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington

o Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey

 Activated Dual-Status Commanders, Title 10 deputies and Joint Enabling Capability

teams to Washington, New York and California.

o A DSC gives a state National Guard unit the ability to command both State

National Guard members as well as active-duty military members to better allocate

military resources across a wide response area. Title 10 deputies and JEC teams

work for the Dual-Status Commander and support the active-duty efforts of the

DSC team. A JEC team has also deployed to California to assist in relief efforts.

 Activated Defense Coordinating Officers across all ten FEMA regions

o DCOs serve as the Federal Emergency Management Agency's single point of contact

for Department of Defense support. They liaise between FEMA and U.S. Northern

Command to assist in the flow of relief efforts to the most affected areas.