A temporary hospital has been set up by members of the California National Guard in Indio, California, in the US. AFP
Feng Bangli, a resident of Wuhan, Hubei, began to have a fever at the end of January and suspected that he had been infected with the virus. He tried several times to be admitted to a hospital but failed. He eventually gave up and stayed at home, taking drugs prescribed by doctors.
1月底，湖北武汉居民冯邦利（音译）开始发烧，怀疑自己感染了新冠病毒。他申请了几次入院都未能成功。最后他放弃了，居家隔离吃医生开的药。
At that time, “too many patients were waiting to see doctors at every hospital, and it was not possible for me to get a bed,” said Feng. Days later, with the community staff’s help, Feng tested positive for COVID-19 and was sent to a makeshift hospital for treatment.
当时，“每家医院等待就诊的病人都很多，不可能给我床位，”冯邦利说。几天后，在社区工作人员的帮助下，冯邦利新冠病毒检测结果呈阳性，被送往一家方舱医院治疗。
“Without such makeshift hospitals, many COVID-19 patients like me may never have found a bed,” said Feng, who recovered and was discharged from the makeshift hospital in Wuchang district at the end of February after staying there for 12 days.
“没有方舱医院的话，许多像我这样的新冠肺炎病人或许永远也找不到一个床位，”冯邦利说道。他在武昌方舱医院住了12天，于2月底痊愈出院。
Like Feng, more than 12,000 COVID-19 patients in Wuhan received treatment and care at 15 makeshift hospitals, which were converted from exhibition halls, sports stadiums and warehouses. These hospitals, which mainly received patients with mild symptoms, contained one in every four confirmed COVID-19 patients in the city, said Ma Xiaowei, minister of China’s National Health Commission.
12000多名像冯邦利这样的新冠肺炎患者在武汉15家方舱医院接受治疗和护理，这些方舱医院都由展览馆、体育馆以及仓库改造而成。国家卫生健康委员会主任马晓伟表示，武汉每4名新冠肺炎患者中就有1人在这些主要接收轻症患者的方舱医院治疗。
“Building makeshift hospitals was a key decision made in the critical moment when Wuhan was facing a formidable task of epidemic control, and it has played an indispensable role in both prevention and treatment of the disease,” he said.
“在武汉面临控制疫情这一艰巨任务的关键时期，建设方舱医院是一项非常关键、意义重大的举措，这些医院在疫情防控中起到了不可或缺的作用，”他说道。
Makeshift hospitals have greatly eased pressure on designated hospitals to receive and treat patients, which made it possible to treat and isolate all people in need, said Xu Junmei, vice-president of Wuchang makeshift hospital. “They were the life vessels during the peak of the epidemic.”
武昌方舱医院副院长徐军美表示，方舱医院极大缓解了定点医院的收治压力，保证了“应检尽检、应隔尽隔、应收尽收”。“它们成为疫情高峰期的‘生命之舱’。”
Makeshift hospitals have now been embraced in other countries. Eight makeshift hospitals are being built in Tehran, Iran, to fight against the virus. The one converted from the Iran Mall, the largest shopping mall in the country, is expected to have a total of 3,000 beds, according to People’s Daily.
如今，方舱医院的经验也已被其他国家采纳。伊朗的德黑兰建起了8家方舱医院来抗击病毒。据《人民日报》报道，伊朗当地最大的购物中心伊朗购物中心被改造为其中一家方舱医院，预计将提供3000张床位。
On March 29, New York converted a grassy meadow in Central Park into a makeshift hospital, where it will provide 68 hospital beds.
3月29日，纽约中央公园的一处草坪上建起了一座野外医院，将提供68个床位。
“Considering the ways we can increase hospital capacity right now is incredibly important,” Dr Andrew Ibrahim, a surgeon at the University of Michigan told Architecture. “If hospitals do become overwhelmed, and new facilities need to be built up.”
“考虑如何增加医院容量至关重要，”密歇根大学外科医生安德鲁·易卜拉辛博士在接受《建筑》采访时表示。“如果医院确实无法应对，那么就必须建立新的医疗设施。”
