The 1,000-Bed Comfort Was Supposed to Aid New York. It Has 3 Patients. "It's a joke"

[Ms. Toad]

9. Correct - and it is the inabilty to handle other things that apparently makes it a joke.

A tangle of military protocols and bureaucratic hurdles has prevented the Comfort from accepting many patients at all.

On top of its strict rules preventing people infected with the virus from coming on board, the Navy is also refusing to treat a host of other conditions. Guidelines disseminated to hospitals included a list of 49 medical conditions that would exclude a patient from admittance to the ship.

Ambulances cannot take patients directly to the Comfort; they must first deliver patients to a city hospital for a lengthy evaluation — including a test for the virus — and then pick them up again for transport to the ship.

(from the article)

I've seen this allegation twice, and my reaction was the same as yours - it wasn't intended to take COVID 19 patients. But down at the bottom of the article, after they get done picking it apart, they actually explain what it is that is ridiculous.