Tag Archives: San Diego

Hospital Ship ‘Mercy’ Steaming to Los Angeles to Assist with COVID-19 Response

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The USNS Mercy, a Navy hospital ship, departs the Naval Station San Diego and heads to the Port of Los Angeles to aid local medical facilities dealing with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, in San Diego, California, U.S., March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake

The U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy departed her homeport at Naval Station San Diego today and is now underway to Los Angeles in support of the nation’s COVID-19 response effort.

USNS Mercy left port with over 800 Navy medical personnel and support staff who will help treat non-COVID-19 patients aboard, and relieve local hospitals ashore by providing medical care including general surgeries, critical care and ward care for adults, the Navy said in a statement.

“This will allow local health professionals to focus on treating COVID-19 patients and for shore-based hospitals to use their Intensive Care Units and ventilators for those patients,” it said.

Mercy is the first of two Mercy-class hospital ships operated by the Navy’s Military Sealift Command. It’s primary mission is “to provide an afloat, mobile, acute surgical medical facility to the U.S. military that is flexible, capable and uniquely adaptable to support expeditionary warfare. Mercy’s secondary mission is to provide full hospital services to support U.S. disaster relief and humanitarian operations worldwide.”

The Mercy-class hospital ships are equipped with 1,000 hospital beds, 11 general operation suites, 15 patient wards and 80 intensive care beds, according to the Navy’s website.

A crew of over 70 civil service mariners operate and navigate the ship, load and off-load mission cargo, assist with repairs to mission equipment and provide essential services to keep the “medical treatment facility (MTF)” up and running. Mercy’s MTF is an embarked crew of medical personnel from the Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which is responsible for operating and maintaining one of the largest trauma facilities in the United States.

“This global crisis demands the whole of government response, and we are ready to support,” said Capt. John Rotruck, Mercy’s Military Treatment Facility commanding officer. “Mercy brings a team of medical professionals, medical equipment, and supplies, all of which will act, in essence, as a ‘relief valve’ for local civilian hospitals in Los Angeles so that local health professionals can better focus on COVID-19 cases. We will use our agility and responsiveness as an afloat Medical Treatment Facility to do what the country asks, and bring relief where we are needed most.”

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, as of Monday, there have been 536 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, including seven deaths and 90 hospitalizations.

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase over the last 48 hours and sadly, we expect positive case counts to rise dramatically over the next three weeks,” said Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Public Health Director.

Statewide, California now has 1,733 confirmed cases and 27 deaths.

Carnival Cruise Line Brings Style to Rose Parade

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Carnival Rose Parade Float

Carnival Cruise Line kicked off 2019 with its first-ever float in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., ahead of the arrival of the new Long Beach-based Carnival Panorama later this year,

Modelled after the new 133,500-ton Vista-class ship, the float cruised down the five-mile parade route this morning delighting the crowd of 700,000 who gathered along with the float riders to a Carnival nine-piece band playing “Uptown Funk” and “I’ve Got a Feeling” as well as the estimated 80 million television viewers.

Carnival Rose Parade Float

Aptly named “Come Sail Away,” the 55-foot-long ship-shaped float featured floral-inspired reproductions of signature Carnival features like the iconic red and blue funnel, a water park and fun-filled Lido Deck party, and the line’s newest attraction — the first-ever trampoline park at sea, in partnership with Sky Zone with jumpers on a working trampoline built into the front portion of the float.

The float also included a replica of the Carnival AirShip flying overhead, just like the blimp that will embark on a month-long tour of California to promote Carnival’s continued expansion in Long Beach, as well as new cruise options from San Diego and San Francisco.

Carnival Rose Parade Float

Designed by Carnival’s in-house creative team and Fiesta Parade Floats, construction of the maritime marvel began in mid-November and encompassed 10 designers collectively working hundreds of hours right up until parade time.

Dozens of volunteers, including Carnival travel agent partners, joined the designers to decorate the float.

“We’re the number one cruise line from the West Coast and what better way to celebrate this distinction and the arrival of Carnival Panorama than by our first-ever Rose Parade which truly captures the essence of what Choosing Fun on a Carnival cruise is all about,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

Puerto Vallarta Welcomes Return of Carnival Miracle

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Carnival Miracle

The Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board has announced the return of Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Miracle to Puerto Vallarta after a seven-year absence.

Connecting San Diego and Puerto Vallarta, the ship is scheduled to make its first call in December 2019.

For the 2019-2020 winter season, the Carnival Miracle will offer 10 voyages from the Port of San Diego. The schedule kicks off on December 1, 2019, with a seven-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera featuring calls at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas.

Other cruise lines that sail from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta include Holland America Line and Disney Cruise Line.

For 2018, Puerto Vallarta is projecting 154 calls with 404,734 passengers, up from 145 calls in 2017.

According to the tourism board, calls to the destination are expected to increase annually and Puerto Vallarta’s International Port (API) is committing $22 million for an extensive renovation and construction project to the port infrastructure.

In charge of the project is the local company, Puerto Mágico PV. The work will cover La Hacienda, a new passenger centre, a Tequila distillery, an art gallery, artisan shops, a cultural centre; El Nido, a new commercial centre with a food court, a 400-car parking lot; and what is set to be the biggest aquarium in Latin America. The port will also be accessible to non-passenger, open to visitors and local residents. The project is scheduled to be unveiled before the end of 2018.