(gentle music)
- If you've been following how Wuhan
has been dealing with the coronavirus break,
you may have noticed impressive footage
of hospitals being built in record time.
Construction started in late January,
and the government said hospitals would be ready
by early February.
Tens of thousands of state-owned employees
as well as military personnel
have poured into the city.
They are in a race to pull off this task.
In under two weeks,
one of the hospitals was declared completed
and began admitting patients.
But if you look at that same shot from another angle,
you can still see construction being carried out
behind this blue fence.
(Ma Zhuang speaking in foreign language)
- On Wednesday, I visited Leishenshan Hospital,
or Mount Thunder God.
It's one of two emergency hospitals being built from scratch
on the city's outskirts.
One report from the Communist Party mouthpiece
People's Daily said this hospital would open on Wednesday
to receive patients.
To be sure, construction has been very fast.
But the day the doors were supposed to open,
it was far from finished.
One worker said they had just finished
the foundations of the site.
Chinese media reports later said the hospital
was still under construction.
To further alleviate patient overflow,
the Wuhan government is repurposing existing buildings.
Wuhan Salon is a convention center
that's being turned into a hospital.
With 2,000 beds, it is one of the largest.
Again, Chinese state media said this place
was ready to receive patients on Tuesday night.
But when I went, there were puddles of water on the floor,
workers were still fitting out beds,
wiring of electricity and sweeping away trash.
Conditions at the new hospitals look pretty Spartan,
and it's not clear how authorities will ensure
proper isolation of individuals.
At Wuhan Salon, patients will have to go outside
to use portable toilets and showers.
These facilities will help take the burden off
of the city's overwhelmed hospitals,
but it is unclear how soon they can accommodate
a large number of patients.
(Wang Chen speaking in foreign language)
(gentle music)