Combatting the Coronavirus – building a hospital in 10 days

On the 31^st of December 2019 numerous residents of Wuhan, the capital and largest city in China’s Hubei province, reported symptoms believed to be caused by a virus as the infection rate had spread like wild fire.

On the 7^th of Janaury 2020, it was announced that the virus (2019-nCoV) had been identified. It is part of the coronavirus family, which includes SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), and spreads via airborne droplets. The origination of the virus has been tied to the Huanan Seafood Market, which sells primarily fish and shellfish, but also wild game like beavers, porcupines and snakes. You can read more about the spread of the virus in this TIME article.

The world has been placed on high alert and China have moved quickly to put measures in place to reduce the transmission of the virus between the different provinces and cities. One of the steps that was taken, was to build a hospital to centralise the treatment centre for the virus.

The Huoshenshan Hospital was handed over on the 2^nd of February 2020 for operation. The construction of the 1,000-bed hospital took just 10 days . According to China Xinhau News, “it will serve as a ‘safety island’ for patients

The World Health Organisation have compiled a webpage that contains advice for the public with steps that they can take to help combat the spread of the virus. Full details here.