New York welcomes hospital ship as coronavirus accelerates

A hospital ship arrived in New York Monday as America's coronavirus epicenter prepares for the peak of the pandemic, with emergency restrictions extended amid grim warnings about the death toll.
The navy's USNS Comfort, which has space for 1,000 beds and a dozen operating rooms, docked in a Manhattan pier around 11:00 am (1500 GMT) after departing Virginia on Saturday.
Its arrival came after President Donald Trump abandoned his Easter weekend target for life returning to normal in the United States and extended social distancing guidelines until the end of April.
Trump said on Sunday America's death rate was likely to increase for two weeks, describing as "horrible" a prediction by senior scientist Anthony Fauci that COVID-19 could claim up to 200,000 lives.
Worst-affected New York is ramping up hospital capacity and taking delivery of desperately needed medical supplies as it races against time to get ready for its peak number of cases.
"This virus has been ahead of us from day one," Governor Andrew Cuomo told MSNBC Monday, saying projections suggest the pandemic could reach its crest between two and four weeks.
"Prepare for the apex. Have the materials for the apex. That's when the system is going to collapse," he said.
The Comfort will care for New Yorkers requiring intensive care unrelated to the coronavirus, easing the burden on a hospital network overwhelmed by an influx of COVID-19 patients.
The US now has the highest number of confirmed cases in the world - more than 143,500, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The illness has claimed more than 2,500 lives in the country and 776 of those deaths have been in New York, America's financial capital and most populous city.
The Big Apple is scheduled to open a temporary emergency hospital in the Javits convention center with 2,900 beds on Monday.
Four other sites have also been approved to house patients discharged from hospitals to make way for residents suffering from coronavirus.