How can China build a hospital in 10 days?

On 31 December 2019, the Chinese media confirmed that there were 44 cases of people affected by Coronavirus, a type of virus that has a characteristic ring of proteins that surrounds it like a crown. The outbreak has been linked back to a city in east China, called Wuhan, so the Chinese authorities have decided to make it a quarantine zone, along with other large cities where cases have flourished. With nearly 5,000 people affected in the Hubei region, the Chinese authorities are carrying out an incredible task: building a fully operational hospital with a capacity of 1,000 people in just 10 days.

It seems impossible, doesn't it? We are not only talking about erecting a building with these capacities in such a short time but, as a hospital, hygiene, sterilisation, isolation or even energy features must be taken into account so that it functions properly and patients can be properly cared for. But China not only has the means to achieve this, but it also has the experience of having done so on other occasions.

Prefabricated structures and little bureaucracy

The new hospital in Wuhan will be called Huoshenshan Hospital. It will cover an area of 25,000 square meters and have an estimated capacity of between 700 and 1,000 beds that can be used by those affected as of February 2, if everything goes according to plan. To understand how China intends to have a hospital up and running in just over a week, two basic reasons must be sought: the use of prefabricated materials and the vertical structure of Chinese society.

The first is increasingly common in general architecture and even more so if it is a case of extreme urgency like the one we are dealing with. Prefabricated construction or modular construction is based, according to the company Neoblock, on the use of "a system of creation and assembly of standardized inhabitable modules that allow the creation of unique design spaces". Instead of building each structure, wall and room in the work area itself, models designed with specific characteristics and built beforehand are used, with only their placement and assembly being necessary in the place where the building in question will be erected. For Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital, the site is being prepared by heavy machinery such as excavators and bulldozers, and then the structure and modular rooms are assembled, maximizing speed and minimizing costs and material waste.

It must be understood that the construction of Wuhan will not be a normal hospital like those that might be found in other circumstances. It is not designed for long life, but as a solution very focused on utilitarian criteria that aims to respond to an extraordinary situation like this.

The other big factor to take into account, as we have already mentioned, is the vertical structure of Chinese society. The Asian giant presents a model in which the high domes of the government have great power and freedom of decision, being able to skip the bureaucratic procedures and altering the standard conditions as they consider necessary. What does this mean? It means that the authorities in Wuhan along with the support of the Chinese government can mobilize the resources such as labour or specialized personnel that they need in a very short time. A clear example of this is that th3e construction workers building this hospital are offered three times the usual salary for that position, according to the South China Morning Post newspaper. It is also striking to know that Wuhan will be able to take the necessary medicines and medical materials from other hospitals, as well as order them directly from the manufacturers.

The Chinese authorities' strategy to control and treat coronavirus in its most important focus is to build a second hospital (Leishenshan Hospital) with a capacity of 1,600 beds, even larger than the Huoshenshan Hospital, which is expected to start operations on 5 February.

Previous experience

The crisis caused by the Wuhan coronavirus was not the first that China has had to face. In 2003, the city of Beijing had to build the Xiaotangshan Hospital within seven days to be able to treat cases of the coronavirus SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Nearly 4,000 people worked day and night to meet the deadline for a centre that had a CT scan room, X-ray room, intensive care and laboratory.

The procedures and actions taken by the authorities with the Wuhan coronavirus are based on those followed during the 2003 crisis.