China opens new hospital amid ongoing intl. contingency plans

China has finished the construction of an emergency hospital in just eight days in Wuhan, the city at the center of the new Coronovirus outbreak as the epidemic continues to claim more lives and infect more people across the country and beyond its borders.

Work had begun on the construction of the 1000-bed emergency Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, the capital of central China’s Hubei Province, on January 23, and was completed on Sunday, according to Chinese media.

According to Press TV, the hospital is set to receive patients confirmed with the Coronavirus infection from Monday.

The new hospital is one of the two dedicated facilities being constructed to help tackle the viral outbreak, which has infected more than 17,000 people across China — with more than 11,000 cases reported in Hubei Province alone.

The construction of the second hospital in Wuhan is due to be finished on Wednesday.

The never-before-seen virus was first reported in December in a seafood and poultry market in Wuhan, with a population of 11 million people.

According to latest figures from China’s National Health Commission, the infection has killed more than 360 people as of Monday across China.

Authorities sent more than 8,000 medical workers to Hubei to combat the outbreak.

Chinese media said 1,400 army medical staff members were also arriving in Wuhan to start work in the new hospital.

Wuhan has been under lockdown for almost two weeks to stop people from leaving the areas and transmitting the virus.

Hospitals in the province are reportedly understaffed and overburdened. They are also dealing with a shortage of medical supplies.

ME