Carnival Corp. CCL, -5.72% said Thursday it will offer the use of some of its cruise ships as temporary hospitals, to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care systems. The cruise ship operator said it would only ask interested parties to cover the essential costs of the ship's operations while in port. "With the continued spread of COVID-19 expected to exert added pressure on land-based healthcare facilities, including a possible shortage of hospital beds, Carnival Corporation and its brands are calling on governments and health authorities to consider using cruise ships as temporary healthcare facilities to treat non-COVID-19 patients, freeing up additional space and expanding capacity in land-based hospitals to treat cases of COVID-19," Carnival said in a statement. The stock, which rose 7.5% in afternoon trading, has plunged 77% over the past month, while the S&P 500 SPX, -1.11% has lost 28.4%.