As an outbreak of a severe strain of the new coronavirus spread in the city of Wuhan, China, the Chinese government vowed to build in 10 days a 1,000-bed hospital to treat victims of the illness.
Given the massive undertaking, Snopes readers asked whether this was true. The Chinese government apparently is endeavoring to do just that. Photographs show machinery starting to prepare construction at the site on Jan. 24, 2020. Within days, structures that would comprise the new hospital were already built. As of Feb. 2, 2020, pictures showed hospital construction near completion.
On Feb. 3, 2020, The New York Times reported the new hospital, named Huoshenshan Hospital, was preparing to accept its first round of patients.
Although the feat may sound unbelievable to some, it wouldn't be the first time the Chinese government put up a hospital in lightning speed to deal with an outbreak. In 2003, Beijing built a hospital in one week to treat SARS patients.
Roughly 45 million people are quarantined in China as the country tries to contain the spread of the virus, which was first reported in Wuhan. The current strain, dubbed 2019-nCoV, has killed 425 people in China.