To face the current outbreak of pneumonia caused by coronavirus – that has already infected 830 people and killed at least 26 – the Chinese city of Wuhan is planning to build a new hospital in six days. The structure will be organized on a 25,000 sqm site and is going to host 1,000 beds.

The hospital project, on which 35 diggers and 10 bulldozers are working, is based on the model of Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing: it was built in seven days by 7,000 workers in 2003 during the SARS epidemic and obtained positive medical results. Prefabricated buildings – a construction method also used back in 2003 – will be placed around a holiday complex on the outskirts of the city. During SARS outbreak, the hospital was provided by individual units to guarantee isolation.

Photo: Xinhuanet