Workers are busy converting Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center into a makeshift hospital in Wuhan on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, has over 5,000 spare beds in its 16 temporary hospitals, which were converted from gyms, exhibition centers and other facilities to cope with a shortage of beds amid the coronavirus outbreak, China's health authority said Friday.

Ma Xiaowei, director of the National Health Commission, told a press conference that the city of Wuhan has built 16 such hospitals, which treat patients with mild symptoms, with more than 13,000 beds.

He said the hospitals have so far treated 12,000 patients, and over 7,600 patients are now being treated in such facilities.