Shanghai shuts down half makeshifts hospitals

Special: Battle Against Novel Coronavirus

Half of the city-level makeshift hospitals built for COVID-19 patients during the current outbreak in Shanghai have closed as of Friday, as local infection numbers keep declining, according to the municipal authority on Saturday.

Among the five closed sites, makeshift hospitals located in F1 Circuit in Jiading district, on Canghai road in Pudong New Area, on the Changxing Island in Chongming district and on Tianhua road in Jinshan district, were shut down between May 9 and 13, according to Ding Bo who is responsible for patient transport from the epidemic prevention and control office in Shanghai. The other fangcang hospital in Jiahe Xinyuan, Jiading district, was shut down in April.

"Makeshift hospitals will be shut down or kept on standby for normalized prevention and control, based on local situations," Ding said.

Official data showed the number of inpatients in city- and district-level makeshift hospitals has dropped to about 50,000, only 20 percent of the peak number from the past two months.

Over 95 percent of the 288 makeshift hospitals converted from schools have been closed and are undergoing cleaning, disinfection and safety assessment, according to Ding.

Moreover, 68 district-level temporary patient transfer stations have been shut down.

The city reported 194 locally transmitted COVID-19 confirmed cases, 1,487 local asymptomatic infections and one death - aged 84 - on Friday.

"Old neighborhoods are key areas which demand further epidemic control and prevention efforts, covering resident and mobility management as well as disinfection," said Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.