WUHAN, Feb. 6 -- On Monday evening a transport support team of the People's Liberation Army assumed a new mission of transporting supplies for the building of three makeshift hospitals in Wuhan, the epicenter of coronavirus outbreak.

On February 3, local authority decided to build three makeshift hospitals in Hongshan Gymnasium, Wuhan Parlor convention center, and Wuhan International Conference& Exhibition Center to admit patients with mild symptoms, in a bid to accelerate the ward turnover rate and facilitate the triage of the infected. Thousands of new beds will be added to the three new makeshift hospitals. But for a city faced with inadequate transportation, it is quite a test to have all the beds and other supplies ready within short time.

At the request of the Wuhan Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters, the PLA’s transportation support team undertook the transport mission and mobilized 50 vehicles to load materials on Monday evening. Officers and soldiers of the team, having just finished transporting living supplies to outlets in Wuhan during the daytime on Monday, engaged in the new mission with little rest.

Senior Colonel Jiang Zuquan, chief of the PLA transportation support team, said that upon receiving the order, officers and soldiers have been racing against time with tenacity, determining to help curb the spread of the epidemic in Wuhan.

It is known that the three makeshift hospitals can accommodate 800, 2,000 and 1,000 beds respectively and the patients admitted will be treated with light weight instrument and medication.