Major temporary hospital in Shanghai discharges last patient

The fangcang or makeshift hospital constructed at the Shanghai New International Expo Center saw off its last patient on Tuesday and will be closed on Wednesday, a senior official with the Shanghai Health Commission said on Tuesday. 

The announcement means all the city-level fangcang hospitals to receive COVID-19 infections during the latest COVID-19 wave in the city will be closed or suspended from Wednesday excepting one in the Fuxing Pavilion of the China Flower Expo park in Chongming district, Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the commission, said at a news briefing.

"Those fangcang hospitals that have been closed will resume their original functions, and the suspended ones will work as backup facilities," Zhao said. "We'll keep contact with the management and operation teams and establish emergency response system to ensure that the facilities are able to resume operations whenever needed."

Three city-level hospitals, including the Shanghai Public Health Clinic Center in suburban Jinshan district, will be kept as designated hospitals to receive COVID-19 cases. All others will resume daily medical service after disinfection and the healthcare workers complete quarantine, Zhao said.

Shanghai designated 11 city-level and 34 district-level hospitals for COVID-19 treatment and renovated 120 makeshift hospitals at the city's epidemic peak over the past two months.

The city reported three locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, including two confirmed cases, on Tuesday.