China's Wuhan to build another SARS treatment-model hospital

WUHAN - Wuhan, the center of a coronavirus outbreak in Central China, will build a second SARS treatment-model makeshift hospital and put it into use in half a month, local authorities said Saturday.

The hospital, named Leishenshan Hospital, is expected to add around 1,000 beds for the patients, according to the Wuhan headquarters for the control and treatment of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus.

Earlier on Friday, the city announced it would follow Beijing's SARS treatment model to build and put into use a 25,000 square-meter special hospital with 1,000 beds for admitting patients infected in the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus by Feb 3.

In the treatment and control of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, that spread rapidly on the Chinese mainland in 2003, Beijing built the Xiaotangshan Hospital, a temporary medical center in the northern suburb of the city.

This move means that Wuhan will build two hospitals similar to the scale of the Xiaotangshan Hospital within one month.