A view of central government-funded temporary hospital in Hong Kong Photo: Development Bureau of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

The Hong Kong Hospital Authority is introducing health equipment and conducting a variety of testing in advanced of opening a temporary hospital funded by the central government for treating COVID-19 patients, with equipment expected to be ready in February, Secretary for Development of the HKSAR government Michael Wong‬ wrote in a blog on Sunday.

The construction of the hospital has taken merely four months, while the construction of hospitals generally takes three to four years, according to Wong‬. The hospital was handed over on January 20.

Built next to another treatment facility at the Asia World-Expo, Hong Kong, the temporary hospital covers a land area of 30,000 square meters and is capable of providing 816 negative pressure beds, Wong said.

With a world-class negative pressure system, the air in the hospital rooms is refreshed 12 times per hour and 99.97 percent of viruses can be filtered. Every room is equipped with a delivery window that can be locked from both sides, and articles transferred through the window can be disinfected, the Xinhua News Agency reported earlier.

Doors installed with sensors allow patients and medical workers to pass without touch the handle, it said.

After entering into service in February, the facility will bring the total number of beds that the central government has helped to add in Hong Kong to about 1,800 and will greatly ease the pressure on the local public health system, he noted.