In fact, Governor Gavin Newsom's letter said:
"I respectfully request you immediately deploy the USNS Mercy Hospital Ship to be stationed at the port of Los Angeles through September 1, 2020, to help decompress our current health care delivery system in the Los Angeles region in response to the COVID-19 outbreak"
With Los Angeles being the nation's second largest city, Gavin Newsom expects that would be disproportionately affected by the outbreak in the following weeks.
According to the governor, California's health and care delivery system is significantly impacted by the rapid growth of the COVID-19 outbreak and needs a boost.
Trump Administration from its side, came in contact with several state governors over the phone, saying that the federal government would boost the US regions in light of the situation.
For the records, more than 1.000 Californians have been confirmed positive for coronavirus and 18 have lost their lives, meaning the third largest death toll in the United States behind only Washington state and New York.
