A field hospital for at least 200 patients will be built in front of the New York Anglican Cathedral in Manhattan by the end of the week. The crypt of the church becomes the abode for the medical staff.
As the dean of the Episcopal Church of St. John the Divine, Clifton Daniel, announced on Tuesday (local time), the improvised hospital will consist of several tents. The cathedral’s crypt should be used as a residence for medical staff. During the crisis, the church will help the community and be available as a place of refuge and healing, said the dean.
Epicenter of the corona pandemic in the USA
The project is supported by the aid organization “Samaritan’s Purse” of the evangelical preacher Franklin Graham. The cooperation between the liberal Episcopal Church and Graham is unusual, as the evangelical pastor has regularly expressed himself critical of gays and lesbians in the past. Graham said his organization was not there “to talk about gay marriage. We are here to save lives.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced to reporters that he would “monitor” the work of the field hospital; he wanted to ensure that nobody was discriminated against there. New York is the epicenter of the corona pandemic in the United States. So far, around 140,000 people have been shown to have been infected; around 5,500 died as a result of the infection.
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