Macao unveils makeshift hospital in case of COVID-19 outbreak

MACAO -- China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Monday unveiled a makeshift hospital converted from the Macao East Asian Games Dome, the largest indoor sporting facility in the SAR, in case of local COVID-19 outbreaks in the future.

A drill involving different sectors will be staged in the makeshift hospital at the end of this month, said Lei Wai Seng, a doctor at Macao's Centro Hospitalar Conde de Sao Januario, a major local public hospital.

Accommodated with 50 beds, the hospital is divided into several areas including emergency room, treatment area, and wards with 20 doctors and 40-50 nurses, and its equipment and personnel will be adjusted in time according to real epidemic situations, Lei said.

Emergency medical teams have completed training to provide services at the hospital. The Macao SAR government is also cooperating with non-governmental bodies to train doctors and nurses on nucleic acid sample collection and working in the makeshift hospital in the next stage, Lei added.

According to a plan released earlier by the SAR government, the makeshift hospital will be prepared to open when the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the city exceeds 50.