China races against the clock to build virus hospitals

The two makeshift hospitals are named 'Fire God Mountain' and 'Thunder God Mountain'

Hundreds of workers are toiling around the clock at the site of a field hospital that China is racing to build within days to treat a rapidly growing number of patients stricken by a deadly virus.

The outline of a floor began to take shape and electrical switchboards were already up on Monday, January 27 when AFP reporters visited the site of the facility, dubbed "Fire God Mountain," being built in Wuhan, the central city where the coronavirus first emerged.

It is one of two makeshift hospitals that Chinese authorities are rushing to build within a fortnight in the city of 11 million people to relieve medical facilities swamped with patients waiting for hours to see doctors.

Work to build Fire God Mountain started Friday and is due to be ready to receive patients on February 3, according to state media. The second one, named "Thunder God Mountain," will be ready for use on February 5.