Covid-19: In just five days, China built a 1,500-room hospital

China finished construction of a 1,500-room hospital for coronavirus patients on Saturday, five days after detecting a new outbreak for which the government has targeted imported products and people who manage their income.

China, where the first case of coronavirus was detected in 2019, had largely controlled infections, but since last December an increase in the number of positive cases has started to be recorded.

The hospital completed today is one of six under construction in Nangong City, Hebei Province.

A total of 645 people are being treated in that city as well as in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei, where a 3,000-room hospital is being built, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Infections have also been detected in Beijing and in Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Sichuan provinces.

The National Health Commission has warned that the latest infections are spreading exceptionally quickly.

“It’s more difficult to manage. Community transmission had already taken place when the epidemic was detected, so it is difficult to prevent it,” he said in a statement.

The Commission reported on the latest cases involving people and goods from abroad as well as workers involved in imports.

“All (the cases) are imported from overseas. This was caused by entry personnel or contaminated imported goods,” the statement said.

The government claims the disease could have reached China from overseas and explained that imported goods, such as frozen fish, have been found to have the virus, although foreign scientists are skeptical of this hypothesis.

In this context, the capital government reported today that travelers arriving in Beijing from abroad will have to undergo an additional week of medical checks after a 14-day quarantine, without giving further details.

The Health Commission reported last night that in the previous 24 hours, it had detected 130 new infections, including 90 in Hebei.

The Hebei government added 32 more cases today, local media reported.

Meanwhile, a team of WHO scientists are in Wuhan ready to investigate the origins of the virus, after months of diplomatic disputes over allowing them to enter the country.

The team, which arrived in China on Thursday, is in quarantine for two weeks but is in communication with Chinese experts.