Built in 10 days, China's virus hospital takes 1st batch of patients
Beijing: The first batch of patients arrived on Monday at a specialised hospital built in just 10 days as part of China's intensive efforts to fight a new virus.
Huoshenshan Hospital and a second facility with 1,500 beds that's due to open this week were built by construction crews who are working around the clock in Wuhan, the city in central China where the outbreak was first detected in December. Most of the city's 11 million people are barred from leaving the area.
The Wuhan treatment centres mark the second time Chinese leaders have responded to a new disease by building specialised hospitals almost overnight. As severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, spread in 2003, a facility in Beijing for patients with that viral disease was constructed in a week.
The first batch of patients arrived at the Huoshenshan Hospital at 10 am on Monday, according to state media. The reports gave no details of the patients' identities or conditions.
The ruling Communist Party's military wing, the People's Liberation Army, sent 1,400 doctors, nurses and other personnel to staff the Wuhan hospital, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The government said earlier some have experience fighting SARS and other outbreaks.
Authorities have cut most road, rail and air access to Wuhan and surrounding cities, isolating some 50 million people, in efforts to contain the viral outbreak that has sickened more than 17,000 and killed more than 360 people.
The Huoshenshan Hospital was built by a 7,000-member crew of carpenters, plumbers, electricians and other specialists, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
Photos in state media showed workers in winter clothing, safety helmets and the surgical-style masks worn by millions of Chinese in an attempt to avoid contracting the virus.
About half of the two-storey, 60,000-square-metre (600,000-square-foot) building is isolation wards, according to the government newspaper Yangtze Daily. It has 30 intensive care units.
Doctors can talk with outside experts over a video system that links them to Beijing's PLA General Hospital, according to the Yangtze Daily. It said the system was installed in less than 12 hours by a 20-member "commando team" from Wuhan Telecom Ltd.
The building has specialised ventilation systems and double-sided cabinets that connect patient rooms to hallways and allow hospital staff to deliver supplies without entering the rooms.
The hospital received a donation of "medical robots" from a Chinese company for use in delivering medicines and carrying test samples, according to the Shanghai newspaper The Paper.
In other cities, the government has designated hospitals to handle cases of the new virus.
In Beijing, the Xiaotangshan Hospital built in 2003 for SARS is being renovated by construction workers. The government has yet to say whether it might be used for patients with the new disease.
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Have married Pak woman only after getting nod from CRPF headquarters: Dismissed trooper
Jammu (PTI): Hours after being dismissed from service for “concealing” his marriage with a Pakistani woman, CRPF trooper Munir Ahmed on Saturday said he solemnized his marriage nearly a month after getting permission from the force's headquarters last year.
Ahmed, a resident of Gharota area of Jammu who had joined CRPF in April 2017, said he will challenge his dismissal in the court of law. “I am sure of getting justice”.
The Central Reserve Police Force has dismissed Ahmed for "concealing" his marriage with Pakistani woman Minal Khan and knowingly harbouring her beyond the validity of her visa, saying his actions were detrimental to national security.
“I initially came to know about my dismissal through media reports. I shortly received a letter from the CRPF informing me about the dismissal which came as a shock to me and my family as I have sought and received permission for my marriage to a Pakistani woman from the headquarters,” Ahmad told PTI over phone from his house.
Ahmed's marriage with Khan came to light after India asked Pakistani nationals to leave the country as part of diplomatic measures taken in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 people were killed.
Khan entered India through the Wagah-Attari border on February 28 and her short-term visa ended on March 22. However, her deportation was stayed by the high court and she is presently staying in Ahmed’s Jammu residence.
“I made the first correspondence on December 31, 2022 informing my wish to marry the Pakistani national and I was asked to complete formalities like enclosing copies of passport, marriage card and affidavits.
"I submitted my affidavit and also the affidavits of my parents, sarpanch, and district development council member through proper channels and finally got a go ahead from the headquarters on April 30, 2024,” he said.
The CRPF trooper said he applied for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) but he was told that such a provision is not available and he has already completed the formalities by informing the government about his marriage to a foreign national in accordance with the rules.
“We got married online on May 24 last year through a video call. Subsequently, I submitted marriage pictures, 'Nikkah' papers and marriage certificate to my 72 Battalion where I was posted.
"When she came for the first time on February 28 on a 15-day visa, we applied for Long Term Visa in March itself and completed the necessary formalities including interview,” he said, highlighting that this paved the way for the High Court of J&K and Ladakh to provide relief to them by staying his wife’s deportation at the last moment on Wednesday.
Ahmed said he returned to his duties at the end of his leave period and was asked to report to the battalion headquarters at Sunderbani on March 25 but on March 27, "I was handed over a transfer order and posted with 41st Battalion at Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) without providing 15 days mandatory joining period.
“I was given the order copy and relieved immediately, leaving me with no option but to join my duties at Bhopal where I joined on March 29. I faced the interview of the commanding officer and his deputy on reaching there and also completed the documentation process, clearly mentioning my marriage to a Pakistani woman,” he said, adding he has even made the entry in his battalion data record book.
The CRPF trooper said he will be moving the court in the next few days to challenge his dismissal.
“I am hopeful of getting justice from the court of law,” he said.
