Covid-free Wuhan celebrates turning hospital into sports arena as Britain’s Nightingale units braces for second wave’
CHINA has showed off a newly reopened sports centre in Wuhan which was used as
CHINA has showed off a newly reopened sports centre in Wuhan which was used as a hospital during the first days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Britain’s NHS Nightingale temporary hospitals around the country remain on standby amid a surge of cases in the UK.
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Communist Party officials are celebrating returning to normal as they claim to have beaten the coronavirus.
And this is while much of the world still suffers as the global death toll stands at more than one million.
Chinese-state media flaunted the newly reopened arena at the Wuhan Sports Centre as 7,500 people rammed inside to watch a basketball game.
It was turned into the Fang Cang temporary hospital in February and received 1,065 patients, reported the Communist Party-owned Global Times.
Wuhan was the epicentre of the pandemic and is where the virus is believed to have jumped from animals to humans at a wet market.
China continues to face many questions as it was accused of withholding information about the killer virus.
The bug spread out from China and across, the world, so far infecting more than 36million people.
NHS England confirmed today to The Sun Online Britain’s pop-up wards remain “on standby” after being mothballed at the start of the summer.
Coronavirus figures continue to surge in Britain, with the government warning more restrictions may be needed as the daily case count surges.
And as China dismantles its temporary hospitals, doctors reportedly warned just weeks ago plans are being drawn up to bring back the wards, including NHS Nightingale in London.
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China’s grand reopening of the sports centre saw the national basketball team play alongside celebrities and frontline coronavirus medics.
Hu Jinqiu, a centre of the Chinese basketball team, said: “For me, playing against doctors has a particularly profound meaning.
“I think they are all exceptional because they have sacrificed themselves in the fight of this pandemic.”
The Fang Cang hospital was opened on February 5 before closing its doors on March 8.
Wuhan has been out of lockdown since April 8- and has recorded no new cases of community transmission since May.
The city is in a way back to the “old normal” – with pictures last month also showing packed nightclubs and a rammed pool party.
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Meanwhile, in Britain it was reported doctors were warned emergency measures may be necessary for the UK’s temporary hospitals from October 2.
“Plans are in place for Covid wards to be reopened to cope with a fast-rising rate of infections,” a consultant told The Sunday Mirror last month.
“More people are going back to work, schools are open and more people are socialising in spite of the new restrictions. We have to be ready.”
New restrictions have been rolled out by the government to control the virus since the warning, but cases continue to surge.
NHS Nightgale hospitals were built at the ExCel Centre in London, as well as Birmingham NEC, and the Manchester Central Convention Complex.
Wards were also set up in Harrogate, Washington, Exeter and Bristol, but many did not see the influx of patients which was feared in March.
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China has seen its official daily case count below 100 almost every day since the end of March after becoming the first nation hit by the virus.
It has so far recorded 85,489 cases and 4,634 deaths, far fewer than in Britain, the US and much of Europe.
According to their official figures, China has not recorded a death from coronavirus since April.
It is feared these figures may be part of the Communist Party’s campaign to make itself look good as it aggressively promotes its virus response.
The emergence of the coronavirus in China also brought reports of doctors being detained and harassed after trying to use social media to raise the alarm.
US President Donald Trump has regularly criticised China as he accused them of covering up the virus and not being honest with the figures.
The Sun Online revealed China has been offering sums of up to £280 for social media users to post positive things about its response to the virus in a propaganda drive.
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The UK is battling surging rates of the virus as Public Health England admit they had missed 15,841 cases from their official stats and medics are told to save swabs and tests for ‘urgent’ patients.
The backlog led to an over-inflated record high of 22,961 additional cases on Sunday.
The Department of Health confirmed this week that the issue had been resolved and the latest infection tally does not include any additional cases from previous days.
In Scotland, pubs will be banned from serving alcohol indoors for 16 days from Friday.
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Meanwhile, in England, a stark north-south divide appears to be opening over the number of people admitted to hospital with the deadly bug.
Figures show there is still cause for concern over the northern regions, while in the south, the numbers are levelling off.
Boris Johnson is grappling with the desperately difficult decision of whether to plunge millions in the north back into tougher lockdown as a result.
The Prime Minister offered a vision of hope yesterday but admitted Britain still faces one of history’s “darkest moments” with Covid cases soaring again.