Chinese builders work day and night to turn a field into a coronavirus hospital in A WEEK

Hundreds of heavy vehicles and armies of construction workers have been ordered to work day and night by the Chinese government to build a six-acre, 1,000-bed coronavirus hospital from scratch in seven days, according to state media.

The emergency facility, named the Huoshenshan or Fire God Mountain Hospital, is situated in the suburbs of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak which has killed at least 26, infected around 920 and spread to nine other countries and regions.

The authorities have instructed four construction companies to toil through the Chinese New Year holiday for building the medical centre, which is expected to receive its first patients on February 3, it is reported. 

An aerial view of the construction site shows dozens of diggers working in a field in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on Friday. The city’s government has vowed to build a dedicated, 1,000-bed hospital for coronavirus patients in just seven days

Employees work on a construction site of a hospital aimed to treat patients infected with the new strain of coronavirus in Wuhan on Friday. The emergency facility, named the Huoshenshan or Fire God Mountain Hospital, is situated in the suburbs

Employees work on a construction site of a hospital aimed to treat patients infected with the new strain of coronavirus in Wuhan on Friday. The emergency facility, named the Huoshenshan or Fire God Mountain Hospital, is situated in the suburbs

Workers stand amid heavy equipment on a construction site for a field hospital on Wuhan on Friday. The authorities have ordered four construction firms to work day and night through the Chinese New Year holiday to build the medical centre

Workers stand amid heavy equipment on a construction site for a field hospital on Wuhan on Friday. The authorities have ordered four construction firms to work day and night through the Chinese New Year holiday to build the medical centre

Trucks and diggers were assembled on a piece of land in the city’s Caidian district last night and are now working in full swing. 

Footage released by state broadcaster CCTV shows lorries carrying building materials lining up the construction site and dozens of excavators already digging the soil. 

According to the report, the hospital will comprise a number of temporary buildings, but the officials are still deciding whether they would use pre-fabricated components to be assembled onsite or wards converted from shipping containers.

The official blueprint is expected to be released today.

The urgent construction task has been assigned to four government-run firms, China Construction Third Engineering Bureau, Wuhan Construction Engineering Group, Wuhan Municipal Engineering Design and Research Institute as well as Wuhan Hanyan Municipal Construction Group.

Mechanical equipment work on the construction site of a field hospital in the Caidian District of Wuhan as the city is ravaged by the outbreak of coronavirus. The hospital will occupy six acres and comprise a number of temporary buildings, it is said

Mechanical equipment work on the construction site of a field hospital in the Caidian District of Wuhan as the city is ravaged by the outbreak of coronavirus. The hospital will occupy six acres and comprise a number of temporary buildings, it is said

The officials are still deciding whether they should use pre-fabricated components to be assembled onsite or shipping containers in order to complete the urgent mission as soon as possible, according to the country's state broadcaster CCTV

The officials are still deciding whether they should use pre-fabricated components to be assembled onsite or shipping containers in order to complete the urgent mission as soon as possible, according to the country’s state broadcaster CCTV

A worker directs a truck on the construction site of a field hospital in Wuhan on Friday. Workers were instructed to start building at 8pm last night and as of this morning, there were around 200 heavy-duty vehicles working non-stop, it is reported

A worker directs a truck on the construction site of a field hospital in Wuhan on Friday. Workers were instructed to start building at 8pm last night and as of this morning, there were around 200 heavy-duty vehicles working non-stop, it is reported

Trucks are lined up along a highway near a construction site for a field hospital which is set to be complete next week

Trucks are lined up along a highway near a construction site for a field hospital which is set to be complete next week

According to Hubei Daily, workers were instructed to start building at 8pm last night and as of this morning, there were around 200 heavy-duty vehicles working non-stop.

The deputy manager of Wuhan Construction Engineering Group told the newspaper that the company was trying its best to gather workforce. 

A spokesperson from China Construction Third Engineering Bureau said the firm had told more than 500 workers to be on standby.

The pressing project is taking place as migrant workers leave big cities to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their families. It also happens after the government put Wuhan on lockdown.

The hospital is modelled on a temporary medical centre, which was built in Beijing in seven days to tackle SARS in 2003 and treated one-seventh of the country’s SARS patient in the space of two months.

More than 1,380 medics worked in the Beijing institution, called Xiao Tang Shan, which was of a similar size.  

The pressing project is taking place as migrant workers leave big cities to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their families

The pressing project is taking place as migrant workers leave big cities to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their families

A spokesperson from China Construction Third Engineering Bureau said the firm had told some 500 workers to be on standby

A spokesperson from China Construction Third Engineering Bureau said the firm had told some 500 workers to be on standby

The hospital is modelled on a temporary medical centre, which was built in Beijing in seven days to tackle SARS in 2003

The hospital is modelled on a temporary medical centre, which was built in Beijing in seven days to tackle SARS in 2003

China has gone into lockdown today as authorities and businesses scramble to shut tourist attractions and public transport systems in a bid to stop the spread of the deadly new coronavirus that has killed at least 24 people in Hubei Province, one person in Hebei Province and one person in Heilongjiang Province.

In a drastic turn of events, part of the Great Wall of China and Disneyland in Shanghai have been closed as authorities desperately try to stop people spreading the Wuhan coronavirus amid fears as many as 10,000 are already infected with the killer virus. 

Fourteen cities, home to around 40million people, are reported to have gone into some form of lockdown in the past two days, with public transport halted and roads closed.

And a report written by researchers from England, Scotland and Florida, has predicted that a staggering 350,000 people may be infected just in Wuhan – the city where the outbreak started – by the beginning of February.

In the US, one man in Washington State is being monitored after being confirmed to have the disease and other suspected cases are being tested in California and Texas. Across the Atlantic, British authorities have tested 14 people but no cases have been confirmed yet. 

Other shocking developments in the outbreak today include: 

  • Chinese New Year celebrations, planned for the following week, have been cancelled in Beijing and Hong Kong
  • Officially, around 920 people around the world have been infected with coronavirus and 26 have died  
  • Footage has emerged reportedly showing military personnel guarding a train station 
  • Videos from inside hospitals show patients crammed into overcrowded corridors and laid on the floor  
  • In the UK, the Government will meet later today to discuss its response after 14 patients were tested for the virus
  • In the US, 12 people have been tested for the virus but still only one case has been confirmed – on Monday

CORONAVIRUS: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR

What is this virus?

The virus has been identified as a new type of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of pathogens, most of which cause mild respiratory infections such as the common cold.

But coronaviruses can also be deadly. SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is caused by a coronavirus and killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in the early 2000s.

Can it kill?

Yes. Twenty-six people have so far died after testing positive for the virus. 

What are the symptoms?

Its symptoms are typically a fever, cough and trouble breathing, but some patients have developed pneumonia, a potentially life-threatening infection that causes inflammation of the small air sacs in the lungs. People carrying the novel coronavirus may only have mild symptoms, such as a sore throat. They may assume they have a common cold and not seek medical attention, experts fear.

How is it detected?

The virus’s genetic sequencing was released by scientists in China to the rest of the world to enable other countries to quickly diagnose potential new cases. This helps other countries respond quickly to disease outbreaks.

To contain the virus, airports are detecting infected people with temperature checks. But as with every virus, it has an incubation period, meaning detection is not always possible because symptoms have not appeared yet.

How did it start and spread?

The first cases identified were among people connected to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan.

Cases have since been identified elsewhere which could have been spread through human-to-human transmission.

What are countries doing to prevent the spread?

Countries in Asia have stepped up airport surveillance. They include Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines.

Australia and the US are also screening patients for a high temperature, and the UK announced it will screen passengers returning from Wuhan.

Is it similar to anything we’ve ever seen before?

Experts have compared it to the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The epidemic started in southern China and killed more than 700 people in mainland China, Hong Kong and elsewhere

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE MAILONLINE’S FULL Q&A ON THE CORONAVIRUS 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk