Photo taken on Jan. 26, 2020 shows the construction site of Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

The hospital in Wuhan, named Leishenshan Hospital, is expected to expand to 60,000 square meters and accommodate over 2,000 medical staff.

WUHAN, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The second makeshift hospital in Wuhan, the center of a coronavirus outbreak in central China, will accommodate 1,600 beds, 300 more than the previous design, as the number of local patients increases.

The hospital, named Leishenshan Hospital, is expected to expand to 60,000 square meters and accommodate over 2,000 medical staff, according to China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd. which undertook the project.

Following Beijing's SARS treatment model, Wuhan is building two makeshift hospitals to treat pneumonia patients infected with the novel coronavirus. The two facilities are expected to be put into use on Feb. 3 and Feb. 5, respectively.

In the treatment and control of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, that spread rapidly on the Chinese mainland in 2003, Beijing built Xiaotangshan Hospital, a temporary medical center in the northern suburb of the city. ■