Bahrain opens second field hospital on man-made island

The facilities are among five that the authorities plan to build to add 500 critical care beds to its health sector in case of a spike in novel coronavirus.

The new 154-bed field hospital, staffed by 55 doctors and 250 nurses, took 14 days to build and adjoins a quarantine camp.

Its large white tents house rows of hospital beds as well as a laboratory, pharmacy and X-ray machines.

Located off the Gulf state's east coast, it is the first crisis facility set up far from a hospital.

"This is done as a precautionary measure for COVID-19 patients in case they need to have ventilation and then ICU healthcare," Dr Nayef Louri told reporters at the facility. A fenced gate guarded by two police cars provides the only access to a dirt road that leads to the island that has been earmarked for development projects.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2020

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