The US military docked a hospital ship in New York Harbor during the peak of the initial outbreak. That ship remained almost entirely unused [0] while COVID-positive adults were being discharged from hospitals straight back to nursing homes, where they died and/or infected others. The emergency hospital established in New York's Javits Convention Center went similarly underutilized [1].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_ships_designated_for_...

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/why-nycs-largest-emergency-h...