Completed in 10 days!
As part of its fight against the corona virus crisis, the U.K.today opened the world’s largest critical care unit. The Prince of Wales joined the opening ceremony of the NHS Nightingale Hospital, which was set up in London’s massive ExCel center in Docklands.
The first NHS Nightingale hospital — @NightingaleLDN — will officially open today at @ExCeLLondon centre. Established from scratch in under a fortnight, it will be available as soon as patients across London and the south of England need it. https://t.co/7NUbJnaoiv pic.twitter.com/oRBLBl08py
— NHS England and NHS Improvement (@NHSEngland) April 3, 2020
HRH princes of Wales, Prince Charles, who is in self-isolation for a week after testing positive to the virus joined the ceremony via video link from Birkhall, Scotland and said the hospital was “an intensely practical message of hope at this time of national suffering.”
Headded, “let us pray, ladies and gentlemen, that it will be required for as short a time, and for as few people as possible, I need hardly say that the name of this hospital could not have been more aptly chosen. Florence Nightingale, the Lady with the Lamp, brought hope and healing to thousands in their darkest hour. In this dark time, this place will be a shining light. It is symbolic of the selfless care and devoted service taking place in innumerable settings, with countless individuals, throughout the United Kingdom.”
The hospital boasts of 500 intensive care beds which will be extended with another 3,500 beds as the need for intensive care for COVID-19 cases arises. Military personnel helped to build the 80 wards in the new hospital.
It has 175 internal fire doors, 6 emergency exit doors installed to industry standards in under 10 days.
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Figures from the British Department of Health figures reveals that a total of 163,194 people have been tested and 33,718 tested positive.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock – who also recently came out of quarantine after contracting the virus said the construction of the hospital was “testament to the work and the brilliance of the many people involved”, and it showed the “best of the NHS. In these troubled times with this invisible killer stalking the whole world, the fact that in this country we have the NHS is even more valuable than before,” he said.
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