19 new makeshift hospitals to open in Wuhan next week

Wuhan, Hubei province – the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak – will have 19 new makeshift hospitals by next Tuesday to further meet the city's medical demands, according to local authority on Friday.

Hu Yabo, executive vice-mayor of Wuhan, said at a news conference that in addition to the 13 cabin hospitals that have already been put into service, the construction of the 19 new ones in the city has been underway and is going to be completed by Feb 25.

Although there are some positive signs in the prevention for the novel coronavirus, with daily confirmed cases decreasing and outpatient visits for fever clinics declining, the epidemic condition is still serious, he said, adding that there is still a large need for more hospital beds.

Upon completion, all the cabin hospitals in Wuhan will be capable of housing a total of 30,000 patients, he said, adding that more medical equipment will be allocated to them.

He also noted that each hospital will be equipped with computerized tomography scan machines, as well as enhancement in oxygen supply and electrocardiogram monitoring capacities, in an effort to improve medical treatment ability.

According to Hu, the current cabin hospitals in city are able to offer 13,348 beds in total, 9,313 of which have been utilized so far.

With 72 medical teams from across the country to help with the treatment in the cabin hospitals, a growing number of people have been discharged after recovery, he said.