Per the Metro, a new 1,000-bed hospital that will be dedicated to fighting the coronavirus outbreak has been completed in China after just 48 hours of converting an empty building.
The Dabie Mountain Regional Medical Centre is located in Huangzhou District (a city close to Wuhan, where the disease is believed to have originated), and started receiving patients last night at 10:30pm (local time).
Yesterday, footage emerged of a medical worker crying with stress over the number of admitted patients:More than 500 construction workers, electricians, police officers, and volunteers worked around the clock in Huanggang City in order to complete the daunting feat. The hospital was originally intended to be opened in May, but following the reported deaths of more than 130 people in China and the constantly growing threat of the disease spreading, they managed to complete the conversion much sooner.
Local authorities announced on Friday (January 24) that the building would be converted and work started on Saturday. The medical center is one of four emergency treatment bases currently being established by the authorities.
Officials of Huanggang City have since praised the combined efforts of the construction staff, paramilitary police officers, and utility companies.
The other facilities are currently being built from the ground up.
Originally intended to be the latest branch of the Huanggang Central Hospital, plans were changed when the coronavirus outbreak took precedent.
According to authorities, nearly 6,000 people are currently infected. On Tuesday (January 22), there were just 1,459 reported cases.
As a result of the disease, the city - which has a population of approximately 7.5 million - was officially put on lockdown on Thursday.
Many countries such as Japan, Canada, the US, and the UK, all started evacuation procedures of their citizens out of Wuhan last Wednesday.
Chinese authorities have even extended the New Year holiday period in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus.
Last week, the world was amazed to see drone footage of a construction site in Wuhan, where diggers started the ambitious task of building yet another 1,000-bed hospital by February 3. Check out that footage above.