Wuhan to follow Beijing's SARS treatment model in new coronavirus control

Aerial photo taken on Jan. 24, 2020 shows mechanical equipment working at the construction site in the Caidian District of western suburb of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

The central China metropolitan of Wuhan will follow Beijing's SARS treatment model to build a special hospital for admitting patients infected in the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus.

WUHAN, Jan. 24, 2020 (Xinhua) -- The Wuhan headquarters for the control and treatment of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus said on Friday the upcoming hospital designed to have an area of 25,000 square meters will be put into use by Feb. 3.

The special hospital planned to accommodate 1,000 beds is expected to pool medical resources to provide isolated and efficient treatment for infected pneumonia patients.

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.

The Xiaotangshan Hospital was built in seven days. The hospital admitted one-seventh of the SARS patients in the country within two months, creating a miracle in the history of medicine.

Aerial photo shows mechanical equipment working at the construction site in the Caidian District of western suburb of Wuhan, Jan. 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

The headquarters said the upcoming hospital will follow the building model of the Xiaotangshan Hospital to use movable plank houses so that the construction will be completed quickly.

Construction equipment has been sent to the hospital construction site.

Currently, novel coronavirus patients are being treated in several designated hospitals and 61 fever clinics in Wuhan.

China on Thursday morning locked down Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, in an unprecedented effort to curb the spread of the epidemic, after it resulted in 25 deaths, including 24 in Hubei and one in northern China's Hebei Province.

Aerial photo shows mechanical equipment working at the construction site in the Caidian District of western suburb of Wuhan, Jan. 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

Aerial photo shows mechanical equipment working at the construction site in the Caidian District of western suburb of Wuhan, Jan. 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)