In an effort to win the battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak — which has killed at least 133 people in China and infected more than 6,168 worldwide — China is speeding up the building of two new hospitals in Wuhan as special emergency facilities. The building of Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital and Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital is an emergency measure taken by municipal authorities to resolve the insufficiency of the city’s medical resources.
Construction of Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital (Thunder God Mountain Hospital) started on January 26 and will be completed on February 5. The 1,300-bed hospital covers an area of more than 322,917 square feet. Click here to watch a time-lapse video of the Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital construction.
Construction of the Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital (Mountain God of Fire Hospital), which will cover 269,098 square feet and house 700-1,000 beds, was launched on January 24 and will be completed on February 2.
While meeting with World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing on January 28, President Xi Jinping said that China has full confidence and capability to win the battle against the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus.
The Chinese people are now fighting a very serious battle against the epidemic, Xi said, adding that the people’s safety and health always come first, and thus the prevention and control of the outbreak is the country’s most important work for now.
On January 27, Premier Li Keqiang visited the construction site for Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital and asked the manager of the project about the difficulties being faced and materials that were still lacking. Meeting those requests would be the government’s priority, Li said.
Li stressed the importance of ensuring the quality of the project while pursuing construction speed, saying that the newly built medical facilities must function well in curbing the spread of the outbreak.
Chinese companies are working around the clock at the construction sites to ensure the timely completion of the medical facilities. Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology, Inc. (BGE), a pioneer in environmental remediation and provider of pollution control and waste treatment systems, and Oriental Yuhong Waterproof Technology, Co Ltd, the largest waterproofing system provider in Asia, are among the companies contributing to the construction of the two hospitals.
BGE engineered 376,737 square feet of anti-seepage construction in the Huoshenshan Hospital project. With the participation of over 50 staff, BGE also provided solutions for sewage treatment and medical waste. Oriental Yuhong was involved in the waterproof construction and overall coordination with government agencies and departments to ensure supply of advanced materials.
Immediately after finishing their work at Huoshenshan Hospital, the two companies moved on to the Leishenshan Hospital, where they are facing more construction tasks.
According to BGE workers, after receiving the construction order at 3 am, all of the BGE workers woke up immediately and marched over three kilometers loaded with constructing equipments.
“We are available all the time and we don’t have any complaints, just for the quick completion of the projects with high quality,” said a BGE worker.
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