New Delhi: The Chinese authorities have been scrambling to build new hospitals in Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Two such hospitals, Huoshenshan and Leishenshan, are being built over large tracts of land and will start functioning from next week, within just seven to 10 days of the construction plans being announced.
The construction of these two hospitals was decided just a day after Wuhan was put under a lockdown on 23 January due to the coronavirus outbreak. The need to construct hospitals was necessitated due to lack of adequate beds and medical supplies in existing facilities.
Over 9,000 confirmed cases of the virus and at least 213 deaths have been reported from China so far.
In the wake of the outbreak, hospitals have been working on a war-footing to deal with the situation.
“I have never encountered such pressure as today,” state-run news agency Xinhua quoted Zhang Dingyu, president of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, as saying.
For the past week, the 57-year-old doctor has been going to sleep at 2 am and waking up at 4 am to see and treat patients.
Sprawling complexes
The 1,000-bed Huoshenshan facility in Wuhan, which is likely to be functional from 3 February, has been built in just a week’s time.
The hospital is a two-storey building spread over an area spanning 8-10 acres.
It will also comprise quarantine wards, intensive care units, general wards and medical equipment rooms. The rooms will be depressurised, according to protocol set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent airborne microorganisms from spreading.
The Leishenshan facility, meanwhile, with a capacity of 1,300 beds, will start functioning from 5 February. It’s spread on an area measuring 30,000 square metres.
These hospitals are located about 25 miles apart.
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