The Chinese city of Wuhan has built a new 1,000-bed hospital in just over a week to treat people infected by the coronavirus outbreak
State media said China completed the second of two new hospitals in Wuhan in a matter of days to help combat the fast-spreading coronavirus.
25,000 sq m of land was levelled to make way for the Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital, which is was completed by 1 February using prefabricated buildings. The first building was operational by 3 February.
A second hospital with between 1,300 and 1,500 beds has also been completed. It was operational by 5 February.
The rapid construction programme is based on the delivery of the Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing in seven days during the 2003 Sars outbreak.
As of 30 January, there have been over 7,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus across China and the death toll has reached 170.
The outbreak has strained the resources of Wuhan’s hospital staff, who had been forced to turn patients away because of basic supplies and beds.
The new hospitals add capacity to a city straining to keep up with the growing number of patients.
As well as the two new facilities, officials are converting gymnasiums, exhibition centers and sports centers into temporary hospitals.
Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program, said: “It’s impressive what’s been achieved in a very short number of days in China and represents remarkable efforts not only in public health, but in logistics and in planning and architecture.”
