China closes 1st ‘pop-up’ coronavirus hospital, built in 10 days, after last group of recovered patients discharged

Authorities in Wuhan have closed the city’s first makeshift hospital after discharging the last batch of 34 recovered coronavirus patients, as the rate of infection in the city has dropped dramatically.

Wuhan was the site of the original outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, and the city’s response, building a new hospital in less than two weeks to handle Covid-19 patients, was seen as a modern marvel with the total number of hospital beds in the city eventually going from 5,000 to 23,000. 

The hospital’s last patients were given the all clear late Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV, amid a sharp decline in Covid-19 cases in Hubei province, with less than 200 new cases reported for the first time since January. Outside of Hubei province, there were only six new cases confirmed in mainland China over the weekend. 

The hospital is one of 16 built across Hubei province to handle the epidemic, in which at least 12,000 people have been treated. 

In China alone, the total number of officially reported Covid-19 infections stands at 80,026 with the death toll reaching 2,912 as of Sunday evening. 

The head of Wuhan’s largest temporary hospital, located in an exhibition centre with beds for 2,000 patients, confirmed plans to shutter that facility by the end of March. 

"If nothing special happens, I expect the operation of our makeshift hospital, the biggest one in Wuhan, could complete its historical mission by the end of March," said Dr. Zhang Junjian, the director of the hospital.

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