In Pictures

In Pictures: Inside Wuhan’s fast-built hospital

New 1,000-bed facility dedicated to treating people infected with coronavirus in Chinese city begins receiving patients.

WUHAN, CHINA - FEBRUARY 03: Huoshenshan Hospital construction nears completion on February 3, 2020 in Wuhan, China. After only 10 days of construction, Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital was officially comple — This is Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the deadly new coronavirus outbreak is thought to have originated. [Stringer/Anadolu]

Built in little over a week, a hospital dedicated to treating people infected with a deadly new coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan began receiving patients on Monday, state media said.

The 1,000-bed facility was designed for patients with confirmed infections to ease a shortage of beds elsewhere in Wuhan, where the rapidly-spreading virus is thought to have originated late last year.

China has opened a new hospital – built in 10 days – to deal with the deadly #CoronavirusOutbreak pic.twitter.com/mgUsxgdWvR

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 3, 2020

More than 7,500 labourers worked around the clock to construct Huoshenshan Hospital, which was modelled on a facility set up in China’s capital, Beijing, in 2003 to help tackle an outbreak of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

The new coronavirus has so far killed at least 361 people and infected more than 17,000 in China and at least 171 overseas. In Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, there are more than 11,000 cases, state television said on Monday.

China is building a second hospital in Wuhan dedicated to the treatment of coronavirus patients, with 1,600 beds. It is scheduled to open on Wednesday.

WUHAN, CHINA - FEBRUARY 03: Workers build hospital on February 3, 2020 in Wuhan, China. After only 10 days of construction, Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital was officially completed and delivered, and on Fe — The 1,000-bed facility is one of two new hospitals dedicated to tackling the outbreak. The second is expected to be completed by Wednesday. [Stringer/Anadolu]

Workers walk by a new computerized tomography (CT) scanner in a room in Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, 02 February 2020. The construction of the 1,000-bed temporary field hospit — Workers walk by a new tomography (CT) scanner in Huoshenshan Hospital. [Shepherd Zhou/EPA]

An army medic looks around a room in Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, 02 February 2020. The construction of the 1,000-bed temporary field hospital, which began on 24 January 2020 — The first patients arrived at the Huoshenshan Hospital at 10am on Monday, according to state media. [Shepherd Zhou/EPA]