Coronavirus: China constructs 1000-bed emergency hospital in just 8 days
For over a month, China has been struggling to contain an outbreak of the fast-spreading 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Last week the World Health Organization even declared the outbreak a global health emergency. Notably, the WHO had also appreciated China's "extraordinary" response to contain the viral infection. And now, China has managed to set up a 1,000-bed emergency hospital in Wuhan within eight days.
Here are some key highlights of the emergency hospital
Work on the emergency Huoshenshan hospital (Meaning: "Mountain of the God of Fire") began on January 23, 2020. Construction was completed on Sunday morning (February 2), Chinese media reported. The hospital has an area of 25,000 square meters (269,000 square feet) and can accommodate 1,000 patients. It is scheduled to open on Monday, 10 days after construction began, and will start admitting patients.
You can view the timelapse video here
How did China manage to pull this off?
The Huoshenshan hospital consists of prefabricated buildings, i.e, complete or partial components are simply assembled at the construction site (think Legos, if you must). Reportedly, engineers were brought in from across China to help construct the hospital within the designated time frame. Now, around 1,400 medics from China's People's Liberation Army will help run the new hospital.
China has done it before; will do it again
Apparently, the impressive Huoshenshan hospital is modeled after Beijing's Xiaotangshan hospital, which was constructed in just seven days back in 2003 to tackle the SARS outbreak at the time. China is also building a second emergency hospital—the Leishenshan hospital ("Mountain of the God of Thunder")—just 25 miles away from the Huoshenshan hospital. Leishenshan will have 1,600 beds and is expected to open on Wednesday.
An aerial view of Huoshenshan hospital construction
What is the coronavirus outbreak?
First detected in mid-December in China's Wuhan, the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) or "Wuhan Coronavirus" has infected over 17,000 people worldwide, with most cases witnessed in China. The virus impacts a host's respiratory faculties causing flu-like symptoms and in severe cases, pneumonia, multiple organ failure, and even death. The viral infection has killed 362 people: 361 in China and one in the Philippines.
