The US Navy's hospital ship Comfort will be returned after the vessel only treated 179 patients in three weeks.

The ship is going back to the Navy after the city's demand for hospital beds did not reach levels that had been projected during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Comfort also was unable to live up to its billing because of red tape that limited the ship's capacity for serving as an overflow medical facility for non-coronavirus patients.

Following outcry from health executives, including Michael Dowling, the head of Northwell Health, New York's largest hospital system, the ship's mission was refocused to treatment of COVID-19.

The US Navy's hospital ship Comfort will be returned to its Norfolk, Virginia, port after serving as a medical facility for patients infected with the coronavirus in New York City since March 30

US Navy Commander Nelle Linz prepares to enter an intensive care unit on board the Navy's hospital ship Comfort earlier this month. The ship has only treated 179 patients in the three weeks since it was sent to New York City and is now being returned to the Navy

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who told President Trump he could have the ship back during his White House visit on Tuesday, expressed confidence that stresses on the hospital system are easing.

Despite concerns, makeshift hospitals, including the one set up in Manhattan's Jacob Javitz Convention Center, were able to provide enough beds during the outbreak, reports Business Insider.

Trump, offering a slightly different version of the conversation with Cuomo, said he was the one to ask for the Comfort back.

'We could bring the Comfort back to its base in Virginia so that we could have it in other locations,' detailing what he said he told New York's governor.

So far, New York City has had 138,345 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which as been blamed for 9,944 confirmed deaths.

Across the US, there have been 871,818 confirmed cases and more than 49,000 deaths.

So far, New York City has had 138,345 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which as been blamed for 9,944 confirmed deaths

Across the US, there have been 871,818 confirmed cases and more than 49,000 deaths

The Comfort had steamed into New York Harbor to cheers and applause on March 30, and was viewed by many New Yorkers as long overdue help from the federal government.

It was intended as an overflow hospital for the city's strained health system, and officials said from the outset that it would provide 1,000 beds for non-coronavirus patients.

Its hesitation in accepting COVID-19 patients was that it would be a complex operation to disinfect the ship once the pandemic was over.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo , who told President Trump he could have the ship back during his White House visit on Tuesday, expressed confidence that stresses on the hospital system are easing. The governor is pictured when the Comfort arrived in New York on March 30

US Navy Sailors prepare to transport a patient arriving for medical treatment from an ambulance onto the Navy's hospital ship Comfort

But shortly after arriving, Nothwell's Dowling slammed the 'ridiculous' red-tape for getting treatment.

Only four patients had been treated on the vessel in the four days following its arrival.

Dowling and other health executives said it was 'a joke' the ship was not being put to use to house COVID-19 patients.

'Everyone can say, "Thank you for putting up these wonderful places and opening up these cavernous halls," said Michael Dowling, the head of Northwell Health, New York's largest hospital system at the time.

A look at how the number of new coronavirus cases has escalated over time

A look at how the number of new coronavirus infections has escalated over time

A day-to-day look at the number of deaths which have been attributed to the coronavirus

'But we're in a crisis here, we're in a battlefield,' he told The New York Times.

Trump, at Cuomo's request, later authorized changing the ship's original mission as an overflow hospital for non-coronavirus patients to also treat patients with the deadly virus.

Cuomo said after meeting with the president this week that the Comfort was helpful, but could now be sent elsewhere.

The governor said having the ship had been worthwhile, even as the need for it didn't reach the levels that had been projected.

'I believe Comfort not only brought comfort but also saved lives,' Cuomo said.