Prince William opens field hospital in Birmingham as coronavirus cases in UK continue to rise

The 500-bed Nightingale Hospital was built inside an exhibition center in just eight days. It will take patients recovering from the coronavirus, freeing up hospitals to care for the most critically.
Britain's Prince William speaks via videolink as he officially opens the NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham, in the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), England, Thursday April 16, 2020. (Photo | AP)
Britain's Prince William speaks via videolink as he officially opens the NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham, in the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), England, Thursday April 16, 2020. (Photo | AP)

LONDON: Prince William has praised the "selfless commitment" of doctors and nurses while opening a new field hospital in Birmingham, England.

The 500-bed Nightingale Hospital was built inside an exhibition center in just eight days.

It will take patients recovering from the coronavirus, freeing up hospitals to care for the most critically ill.

It has a mortuary and can increase capacity to take up to 4,000 patients.

The field hospital is the second of seven such temporary facilities to open, after the first became operational at London's ExCel center.

Speaking by video link to about 50 health care workers and military staff, William said: "The building you are standing in is yet another example of how people across the country have risen to this unprecedented challenge."

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