Coronavirus: Gov. Cuomo, the National Guard and FEMA transform the Javits Center into a hospital

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that the construction of a temporary hospital at the the Jacob K. Javits Center had been completed with the help of FEMA and the National Guard.
• The New York City convention center, which usually hosts events like New York Comic Con, is now home to 1,000 hospital beds that will be used to handle patient overflow caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 
• The temporary hospital at the Javits Center in Manhattan is just the first of several that will be built in New York.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to the media and members of the National Guard at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Ron Adler | Barcroft Media | Getty Images

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that the construction of a temporary hospital at the the Jacob K. Javits Center had been completed with the help of FEMA and the National Guard. The New York City convention center, which usually hosts events like New York Comic Con, is now home to 1,000 hospital beds that will be used to handle patient overflow caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The temporary hospital at the Javits Center in Manhattan is just the first of several that will be built in New York. Cuomo plans to have a temporary hospital in each of New York City's five boroughs as well as in Westchester, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties. 

The Army Corp of Engineers identified the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, the Aqueduct Racetrack facility in Queens, CUNY Staten Island and the New York Expo Center in the Bronx as potential hospital sites. Each new hospital would add 1,000 beds to the city's capacity. Cuomo said he is asking President Donald Trump to approve these sites immediately so construction can begin.

New York has at least 44,870 cases of the coronavirus, the most of any state, and confirmed cases in the U.S. surpassed 100,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

Here are photos that show the transformation of the Javits Center into a temporary hospital:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces plans to convert the Jacob Javits Center

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announces plans to convert the Jacob Javits Center on Manhattans West Side into a field hospital as Coronavirus cases continue to rise on March 23, 2020 in New York.

Bryan R. Smith | AFP | Getty Images

National Guards are assembled inside the Jacob Javits Center 

National Guards are seen inside the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Rod Adar | Barcroft Media | Getty Images

United States Army Corps of Engineer personnel loading equipment

A view United States Army Corps of Engineer personnel loading equipment to javitz Center outside Javitz Center, a temporary hospital for Covid-19 patients amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on March 26, 2020 in New York City.

John Nacion | NurPhoto | Getty Images

A member of the New York Army National Guard walks past boxes of medical equipment 

A member of the New York Army National Guard walks past boxes of medical equipment at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, U.S., on Monday, March 23, 2020. Construction will begin this week to turn the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan into a 1,000-bed hospital, a first step toward eventually doubling that number, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Angus Mordant | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Medical equipment is unpacked 

Medical equipment stands at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, U.S., on Monday, March 23, 2020.

Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Cuomo conducts a daily briefing on the coronavirus from the Javits Center 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks in front of stacks of medical protective supplies during a news conference at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center which will be partially converted into a temporary hospital during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New York, U.S., March 24, 2020.

Mike Segar | Reuters

Members of the New York Army National Guard sit in front of a monitor displaying a map of temporary New York hospitals

Members of the New York Army National Guard sit in front of a monitor displaying a map of temporary New York hospitals at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York, U.S., on Friday, March 27, 2020.

Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images

An American flag hangs above rooms for patients at a temporary hospital

An American flag hangs above rooms for patients at a temporary hospital in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York, U.S., on Friday, March 27, 2020.

Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Members of the National Guard gather at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center

Rows of rooms for patients are set up 

Rows of rooms for patients are set up at a temporary hospital in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York, U.S., on Friday, March 27, 2020.

Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images

An improvised hospital bed is shown during a press briefing 

An improvised hospital room is seen during a daily coronavirus press conference by New York Gov Andrew Cuomo at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, which is being turned into a hospital to help fight coronavirus cases on March 27, 2020 in New York City.

Eduardo Munoz Alvarez | Getty Images

Members of the military medical team sit at a temporary hospital 

Members of the military medical team sit at a temporary hospital in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York, U.S., on Friday, March 27, 2020.

Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Cuomo applauds members of the New York Army National Guard 

Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, center, applauds members of the New York Army National Guard before a news conference at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, U.S., on Monday, March 23, 2020.

Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images