BEIJING: The Chinese city of Wuhan is rapidly building a new 1,000-bed hospital to treat victims of a new coronavirus, mobilising machinery to get it ready by early next week, state media said.
The virus has killed 25 people in China and infected more than 800, the government said on Friday (Jan 24), as the World Health Organisation declared it an emergency but stopped short of declaring the epidemic of international concern.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Most of the cases are in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated late last year.
READ: WHO says 'bit too early' to declare coronavirus a global emergency
The new hospital is being built around a holiday complex originally intended for local workers, set in gardens by a lake on the outskirts of the city, the official Changjiang Daily reported on Friday. Prefabricated buildings which will have 1,000 beds will be put up, it said.
Building machinery, including 35 diggers and 10 bulldozers, arrived at the site on Thursday night, with the aim to get the new facility ready by Monday, the paper added.
Advertisement
Advertisement
"The construction of this project is to solve the shortage of existing medical resources," the report said. "Because it will be prefabricated buildings, it will not only be built fast but it also won't cost much."
READ: Singapore confirms first case of Wuhan virus
The hospital aims to copy the experience of Beijing in 2003, when the city battled Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). As many as 774 people died in the SARS epidemic, whiRead More – Source
