President Donald Trump agreed Sunday, March 22, to send a massive Navy hospital ship to the Port of Los Angeles to deal with the area’s surge of coronavirus patients.

The USNS Mercy — one of the Navy’s two 1,000-bed hospital ships — should arrive at the massive cargo complex off San Pedro next week, officials said. The ship is home-ported in San Diego and initially was set to be deployed to Seattle for coronavirus relief.

It is unclear when exactly the ship would arrive in the port, but earlier reports about its deployment somewhere on the West Coast indicated it would leave on Tuesday, March 24, for its destination.

The ship’s destination was confirmed late Sunday by the Port of Los Angeles.

“The Port of Los Angeles stands ready to partner with the Navy and the federal government as it prepares to bring the USNS Mercy to the Port of Los Angeles,” said port Executive Director Gene Seroka in a written statement. “The welfare of our residents is the top priority during this public health crisis.”

It has not been said where it would dock, although the Outer Harbor, because of the larger space, is one possibility, according to some sources.

Trump also said Sunday that he would approve “very quickly … maybe tonight” California’s request for a major disaster declaration to deal with the worsening COVID-19 outbreak. Similar declarations were approved for New York and Washington state.

The president also approved California’s activation of the National Guard to help with distribution of supplies and other needed relief efforts, but officials stressed that state officials would be in charge.

Los Angeles County saw its largest one-day jump yet in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases Sunday, with 71 more patients and one additional death reported.

Earlier, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked President Trump to deploy the mammoth hospital ship to the region amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

Stationing the USNS Mercy Hospital Ship at the port through Sept. 1, Newsom said, would help to “decompress” the health care system in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19.

“As you know, California has been disproportionately impacted by repatriation efforts over the last few months,” Newsom wrote to Trump in a Wednesday, March 18, letter. “Our state and health care delivery system are significantly impacted by the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases.”

The ship, he said, would take on patients and help address critical acute care needs, including heart attacks, strokes or car accidents “in addition to the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases.”