An aerial view shows the newly-completed Huoshenshan Hospital, a dedicated hospital built in 8 days to treat coronavirus patients, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. February 2, 2020.
Huoshenshan Hospital and a second facility with 1,500 beds that is due to open this week were built by construction crews who are working around the clock in Wuhan, the city in central China where the outbreak was first detected in December. The Wuhan treatment centres mark the second time Chinese leaders have responded to a new disease by building specialised hospitals almost overnight.
Authorities have cut most road, rail and air access to Wuhan and surrounding cities, isolating some 50 million people, in efforts to contain the viral outbreak that has sickened more than 17,000 and killed more than 360 people. About half of the two-storey, 60,000-square-metre building is isolation wards, according to the government newspaperDoctors can talk with outside experts over a video system that links them to Beijing’s PLA General Hospital, according to the. It said the system was installed in less than 12 hours by a 20-member “commando team” from Wuhan Telecom Ltd.
Damn that was quick.