Photo:The China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC)

The China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) has built an emergency field hospital in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, with 100 beds, two surgery rooms and an ICU. The hospital is now one of the country's biggest and most advanced hospitals.

The hospital was successfully completed on Tuesday, just 12 days after the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the country, with over 150 construction workers laboring over 24,000 hours in total. It is the CRCC's second key project in the country following a hospital in Scarborough.

"Construction during the pandemic is especially challenging," the project manager surnamed Li said, "But we are taking our responsibility and building it as we built the Huoshenshan emergency hospital back in China."

The hospital is currently in preparations to open. It is equipped with over 500 medical facilities. It can perform ultrasounds, physiotherapy, and test for cardiopulmonary function. Over 300 local medical staff are expected to be trained to operate the hospital. 

Chinese construction companies have been providing medical aid to countries in the Caribbean as well as in Africa. On Tuesday, another emergency hospital was successfully built in Angola with help from the China Railway 20th Bureau. 

Chinese companies can offer help to countries stuck in coronavirus lockdowns should need arise, an expert from the CRCC told the Global Times. In its latest effort to combat the spread of the pandemic, the Indian government on Tuesday announced a total lockdown of its 1.3 billion population that will last for 21 days. 

If there are Chinese projects in India, and with sufficient supply networks in place, a similar project could be undertaken upon India's invitation, the expert said.