Construction of Tsing Yi makeshift hospital completed

Construction of a makeshift hospital in Tsing Yi has finished, as state media revealed photos of its facilities.

CCTV reported that the 60,000 square-meter Tsing Yi facility can provide over 3,800 beds, while Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun said in his Sunday blog that the facility was built in an unprecedented speed.

It will be the first newly added isolation facilities to be put into service, finished by thousands of construction workers in one week after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced last Tuesday that more isolation facilities will be built.

Beijing is helping Hong Kong expand the isolation facility at Penny’s Bay, and build a similar one at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and four makeshift hospitals in Tsing Yi, San Tin, Tam Mei and Hung Shui Kiu. The four makeshift hospitals will provide 14,000 to 17,000 units.

Last Thursday night, the Development Bureau announced that the Architectural Services Department had signed a cooperation agreement with the China State Construction International Holdings Limited on eight projects for the construction of community isolation and treatment facilities.

The eight projects, including the Tsing Yi makeshift hospital, will be funded by the SAR government.

The seven other facilities will be located in Penny's Bay, former runway area of Kai Tak, San Tin, Tam Mei, Hung Shui Kiu, Fanling North New Development Area, and a site on the southeastern part of the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities Island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

On Saturday, Hong Kong St John Ambulance said it will provide first aid and medical services to over 2,000 workers of the makeshift hospitals and other quarantine facilities, as well as 24-hour ambulance service.