Wuhan to build 1,300-bed hospital within 10 days to battle coronavirus

Workers are being paid three times their usual wage

Tribune Web Desk

Updated At : 09:50 PM Jan 25, 2020 IST

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Beijing, January 25

A central Chinese city that is the epicenter of a new SARS-like virus outbreak is building a second hospital “within half a month” to treat cases, state media reported Saturday.

According to the People’s Daily, the new hospital will add 1,300 hospital beds, in addition to another new facility which is being built in Wuhan to deal with the outbreak—reportedly within 10 days.

The Wuhan government is rushing to build a 1,000-bedded hospital in the outskirts of Wuhan to treat coronavirus patients.

An aerial view shows the construction site of a new hospital dedicated to treating patients with coronavirus, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China January 24, 2020, in this still image taken from video. — Reuters

It will be ready by February 3, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Workers are being paid 1,200 Yuan (USD 173) per day, three times their usual wage, to accelerate the construction.

Pedestrians wearing protective masks to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, walk on a street in Tokyos Ginza area on January 25, 2020. — AFP

The hospital will be modelled on the one built in Beijing for the treatment and control of SARS or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which spread rapidly on the Chinese mainland in 2003, killing over 800 people.

An officer gestures in front of one of the roads blocked by the police to restrict people leaving Wuhan in Chinas central Hubei province on January 25, 2020, during a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city. — AFP

Pictures uploaded to social media on January 25, 2020, by the Central Hospital of Wuhan shows medical staff attending to patients in Wuhan, China. Reuters

Beijing then had built the Xiaotangshan Hospital, a temporary medical centre in the northern suburb of the city. — AFP

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