Coronavirus: Wuhan hospital built in under two weeks

Video caption, Time-lapse shows Wuhan hospital construction

The first patients have arrived at a brand new hospital in China that was built in under two weeks.

The 1,000-bed hospital was built in Wuhan after just eight days as part of China's efforts to fight the coronavirus.

A second hospital with 1,500 beds is also under construction in the city which is in the Hubei province of China, the area is thought to be where the outbreak first started.

Currently people there are not allowed out of the city to prevent the virus from being spread further.

Video caption, WATCH: Coronavirus - What is it and where did it come from?

Check out these pictures of the Wuhan hospital after only a few days

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, How the building site looked as construction started on the new hospital in Wuhan.

This first hospital is called Huoshenshan which means Fire God Mountain Hospital.

It takes up six acres of land - that's the size of four football pitches.

The hospital is built from temporary buildings and shipping containers, which is how they are able to be built so quickly.

Just 25 miles away, the second hospital called Leishenshan Hospital, is due to be finished on Wednesday 5 February.

Plans for third and fourth hospitals are now under way.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, How the building site looked after just a few days

China has experience of building these types of hospitals. The new building is a copy of a hospital built in 2003 after another similar virus outbreak called

The new virus has killed 425 people, with over 20,000 cases confirmed across the world.

What is the UK doing to tackle the coronavirus?

Video caption, Why the coronavirus might not be as scary as it sounds

Britain has had two confirmed cases, and health authorities are trying to identify anyone who might have come into contact with the infected pair.

The country is sending home some government staff that work in China. It's also asked Britons in China to leave the country if they can.

Evacuation flights for British nationals in Wuhan have also been arranged. The passengers from the flights are spending two weeks in quarantine in two apartment blocks normally used to house nurses.

What is quarantine?

Quarantine is when a person or animal is kept in a closed-off area for a period of time. This is to protect other people from being infected with disease.

The closed-off area might be a person's bedroom or even their entire home, or it may be a special centre to isolate a number of people who may be carrying a virus.

The most important thing is for the travellers not to be in contact with members of the public until it's clear that they are not infected.

It is possible that none of the UK citizens travelling from Wuhan are infected with coronavirus, but it is safer to keep the travellers separate for two weeks as symptoms might develop over this time.

As well as this, British Airways says it has cancelled all but essential flights to mainland China for a month.

Essential in this case means really important and necessary flights - and this is unlikely to include personal reasons for travel, for example seeing family or friends.

This has left many people stranded, but it is thought that this will continue until the virus is under control.

Image source, DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS

Image caption, At Heathrow airport, medical staff are currently supporting anyone travelling in from China who feels unwell

At airports, there are many signs warning people about the symptoms of the virus.

Anyone who has visited Wuhan in the last two weeks is being encouraged to stay indoors and avoid contact with others.

This means that they need to avoid school, work and other public places.

They are also told to contact the NHS on 111 about their visit to Wuhan.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Information is provided to travellers in Heathrow airport

What are people doing abroad to stop the virus?

Organisations like the United Nations and the World Health Organisation (WHO for short) give lots of advice to governments to help them manage outbreaks of disease.

The WHO, which declared the outbreak a global public health emergency last week, has said global trade and travel restrictions are not needed.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Authorities in China are taking citizens' temperatures in public spaces to detect signs of the virus

How coronavirus is being dealt with around the world?

New Zealand is barring all foreign nationals arriving from mainland China - that follows the US, Singapore and Australia who have taken the same action.

South Korea says it will stop people who have visited Hubei province from entering the country, while Vietnam has suspended all flights to and from China.

The US confirmed its eighth case, while the Pentagon has said it will provide housing for 1,000 people arriving from overseas who might need to be quarantined.

Japan confirmed an additional three cases of the new coronavirus among evacuees from Wuhan, bringing the country's total to 20 cases.

German health minister Jens Spahn has called for calm as more than 100 Germans and family members travelling from China landed in Frankfurt. None of those passengers showed any symptoms of the virus.

Germany has had eight confirmed cases so far.

Elsewhere the Russian military will start evacuating Russian citizens from China.

Russia has already restricted direct flights with China.