Field hospital being constructed in Central Park due to coronavirus

NEW YORK - A field hospital was being constructed in Central Park on Sunday to deal with the influx of patients in New York City hospitals due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Mt. Sinai Hospital is working with the relief group Samaritan's Purse to build the temporary facility. It will have 68 beds.

Samaritan's Purse, a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization, set up and has been operating a similar respiratory care unit in hard-hit Cremona, Italy.

The group is sending dozens of disaster relief specialists, including doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel to the city. It was unclear when patients would be brought to the facility.

"People are dying from the coronavirus, hospitals are out of beds, and the medical staff are overwhelmed," Samaritan's Purse president Franklin Graham said in a statement posted online. "We are deploying our Emergency Field Hospital to New York to help carry this burden. This is what Samaritan's Purse does—we respond in the middle of crises to help people in Jesus' Name. Please pray for our teams and for everyone around the world affected by the virus."

On its website, Samaritan's Purse called for "Christian healthcare workers" to sign up to help fight COVID-19.

Founded in 1970, Samaritan's Purse provides spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world.