The hospital will receive cases that need moderate medical care, mild symptomatic cases
Shoppers queue up outside a mall in the Saudi city of Medina on Thursday [Image for illustrative purposes]
Abu Dhabi: The Jeddah expo centre was converted into a 500-bed field hospital to care for coronavirus patients and opened on Sunday, Saudi media reported.
Officials of the Jeddah Health Affairs Department said the hospital was set up on an area covering 8,000 square meters at the land of the Jeddah Exhibition and Convention Center under the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in north Jeddah.
The hospital will receive cases that need moderate medical care as well as those who have mild symptoms of the pandemic until they recover.
According to the Health Department sources, the hospital’s operational plan includes trial run in the first phase with 20 beds in order to ensure the effectiveness and availability of devices and equipment according to the plans until the completion of the total operation.
The hospital will have the capacity of 500 beds once it becomes fully operational. The hospital includes all the auxiliary medical departments including laboratory, radiology, pharmacy and medical supplies.
All the preventive and public safety and security requirements have been taken to receive and treat the patients, the Health Affairs sources said, adding that the hospital is supplied with all the medical and technical staff as well as medical equipment, including oxygen cylinders to deal with coronavirus cases.
