The ships, each with a 1,000-bed capacity, have helped in natural disasters like tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes, not quarantines. Jay Inslee of Washington said he spoke with Mr. Esper on Tuesday about getting access to resources that could help bolster new medical hospitals. “I would predict that we’re going to be getting real help from the Department of Defense,” Mr. Inslee said. In this case, Mr. Trump has left the Department of Health and Human Services in charge. “Most disaster supplies are set up for localized disaster response,” he said, “not something that is occurring across the nation all at the same time.”

Source: New York Times March 17, 2020 22:25 UTC