IN PICTURES: China's 1000-bed hospital to treat coronavirus patients

Chinese authorities have successfully completed a 1000-bed hospital dubbed ‘Fire God Mountain’ aimed at specifically treating the patients in the coronavirus-hit city, Wuhan, within a span of just eight days.

The decision to construct a new facility to deal with the virus-infected patients was made after hospitals in the province of Hubei – where Wuhan is located – are reportedly overwhelmed and struggling to treat the growing number of patients.

According to the Chinese state media, the Huoshenshan hospital, spanning over 269,000-square-foot, comprises of 1000 beds and would be run by some 1,400 military medics from the People’s Liberation Army.

It will start receiving patients from tomorrow, the media said.

The design for the buildings was based on a Beijing hospital that was constructed in 2003 to help tackle the SARS virus.

Engineers from across the country were reportedly brought in to help speed up construction of the hospital, made out of prefabricated buildings.

The official Xinhua news agency said many of the staff were involved in the fight against another coronavirus, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed some 650 people in mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

The second field hospital, ‘Thunder God Mountain’, is set to start admitting patients on Thursday, with 1,600 beds – 300 more than originally planned.

It is pertinent to mention here that the death toll from the new coronavirus in China’s Hubei province rose by 56 to 350 on Monday, Chinese state television reported citing official figures, as investors braced for volatility when Chinese markets reopen after the Lunar New Year break.

There were another 2,103 cases detected in Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, taking the total in the province to 11,177 as of Feb. 2, state television reported.

Hubei’s provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus is thought to have originated, reported 41 new deaths. A total of 265 people in Wuhan have now died from the virus.

New confirmed cases surged by 1,033 in Wuhan and climbed by 244 in nearby Huanggang on Feb. 2. Two new deaths were reported in the city, about 60 km (37 miles) east of Wuhan.

At least another 171 cases have been reported in more than two dozen other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.