SARS hospital reopens for coronavirus

Beijing's Xiaotangshan Hospital, originally built in 2003 to treat patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, began new operations on Monday to screen and treat people entering China from overseas with COVID-19.

The hospital, in the capital's northern Changping district, will treat those with mild and moderate symptoms of coronavirus infection, according to report in Beijing Daily citing the city's disease control and prevention leading group.
The hospital, which has more than 1,000 beds, will observe and treat travelers at high risk of infection, following up on airport screenings.

People cleared of possible infection will be transported home by their province of residence.

Travelers from overseas who live in Beijing will be taken home to complete 14-day quarantines at designated places after being screened at Xiaotangshan, the notice said.

All facilities and equipment used at the hospital passed inspection before being put into operation, and the capital has assigned several hundred medical personnel from various disciplines — infectious diseases, emergency, intensive care, radiation and traditional Chinese medicine — to the hospital.

The original Xiaotangshan Hospital was a so-called instant infirmary built in seven days in April 2003 in response to SARS. In January, the Beijing municipal government decided to renovate it to treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus.