Because of the Covid pandemic, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered the construction of a $52 million temporary hospital. So, how many people did this hospital treat before it was closed in mid-May?

The Daily Wire writes:

Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared in March that the city needed an expensive “crucial” emergency hospital to treat a predicted flood of COVID-19 patients.

The hospital, which cost a whopping $52 million, treated a total of 79 patients before shutting down 33 days later on May 13.

One nursing practitioner explained what she did all day at the empty hospital:

“I basically got paid $2,000 a day to sit on my phone and look at Facebook,” a nurse practitioner told The Times. “We all felt guilty. I felt really ashamed, to be honest.”

READ: New York City Mayor’s ‘Crucial’ $52 Million COVID-19 Hospital Treated 79 Patients Before Closing

Oh, and these weren’t the only unused temporary hospitals set up in New York state to handle the pandemic. READ: U.S. Field Hospitals Stand Down, Most Without Treating Any COVID-19 Patients

The US Navy also sent its hospital ship to New York. Capable of handling about 1,000 patients, it only treated 80.

So, if there were empty hospital beds, why did New York Governor Andrew Cuomo order nursing homes to take people with the coronavirus, endangering those most vulnerable to the virus? READ: More than 6,300 COVID-19 patients were sent into New York nursing homes, state report reveals