With the medical mission for this Navy hospital ship now complete, the doctors, nurses, and medics who staff the USNS Comfort received a colorful sendoff Thursday courtesy of the NYPD.

Bagpipers provided the exit music, as nearly two dozen police vehicles kept their siren lights flashing, giving thanks on behalf of a grateful city.

"When the Comfort came, when we asked it to come five weeks ago, we knew we were in desperate shape," said FEMA Regional Administrator Von Essen. "It came and it made an unbelievable difference in the spirit and the efficiency of what we were trying to do to decompress what was happening in all the hospitals."

Since its arrival on March 30, officials say the floating hospital treated a total of 182 patients, with about 70% suffering from COVID-19.

Now, it is leaving with the blessing of Governor Andrew Cuomo, who said the Comfort was no longer needed in the city because the surge of people seeking treatment at local hospitals for the coronavirus was easing.

Still, the city's top emergency management official says New Yorkers must remain vigilant and not ease up on the measures beating back the virus.

"The Comfort leaving NYC is a sign that things are improving, but we can't take our eyes off the ball yet," said NYC Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Deanna Criswell.

While the ship's mission is complete, an Air Force general says hundreds of other medical personnel with the military will keep working in city hospitals for at least another month.

"There's 682 doctors, nurses, that are in NYC hospitals, that are U.S. military members, that are providing that service exactly where it is needed," said U.S. Air Force General Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy. "Right now, it needs to be done in the hospitals. They have the capacity. They just don't have the staff."

The Navy says after the ship reaches its home port in Norfolk, Virginia, it will be restocked with supplies and prepare for its next assignment. There, it hopes to provide the kind of help and hope that it gave to New York.