MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. The construction of an infectious disease hospital in Moscow will be completed soon, the city mayor, Sergei Sobyanin told reporters on Tuesday.
"The construction was launched on March 12 and today some 40% of construction works have been completed," the mayor said, stressing that the construction effort was in full swing.
"This is a giant facility with the total area of nearly 80,000 square meters, with 500 beds, but half of them are for intensive care," Sobyanin said, noting that this would be "the most modern and the most effective hospital" in Moscow.
"I hope in the coming weeks the construction works will be completed," he said.
Currently, some 890 pieces of equipment and 5,200 workers are involved in the construction effort and their number will rise to 6,000, Deputy Moscow Mayor Andrei Bochkarev told reporters. A total of 40 companies manufacturing equipment are assisting the construction. "We are building [the new infectious disease center] 10 times faster than any other standard medical facility," Bochkarev stressed. "We are buying all necessary medical equipment and producing a large number of engineering equipment," he noted.
On March 5, Sobyanin signed a decree on introducing the state of high alert over the coronavirus threat. Among other measures, he announced launching the construction of a new hospital. The facility will be constructed within a short time using prefabricated units in Voronovskoye settlement, in the new Moscow region.
The coronavirus outbreak was recorded in central China in late December 2019. More than 160 countries have been hit by this infection, which was labeled as a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. According to the latest data, nearly 350,000 people have contracted the virus and some 16,000 have died. A total of 438 coronavirus cases have been registered in Russia and 17 patients have recovered.