Echoes

The "makeshift hospital" strategy echoes the construction of Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing, which was built to accommodate patients displaying symptoms of SARS. On Thursday, Lei Haichao, director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, told Beijing News that renovation work had started at the hospital.

"If necessary, we will use some of the beds to provide treatment for patients with the novel coronavirus,"Lei said.

Of all the new and upgraded facilities, though, Wuhan's Huoshenshan and Leishenshan hospitals are attracting the most attention, with tens of millions of people nationwide watching the construction process via livestreams from the site.

At 2:30 pm on Thursday, about 50 million people were watching the work, with the livestream providing a bird's-eye view of the site as workers, trucks and excavators raced to meet the deadline.

Many people who have stayed home to avoid possible infection have been following news of the virus via the internet. That has resulted in millions of "volunteer supervisors", as these netizens call themselves－they exchange their stories and feelings during this difficult time, in addition to discussing the construction project.