China half-builds coronavirus hospital in four days as death toll passes 100 and Germany confirms first case
A new hospital in China to combat the coronavirus is taking shape after just four days, as the fourth case of the virus was confirmed in Europe.
The building in Wuhan, where the outbreak began, is already nearing completion as the Chinese death toll from the virus went past 100 and it claimed its first victim in Beijing.
Germany confirmed its first case of the coronavirus, while Britons stranded in Wuhan have been urged to contact the UK consulate.
Almost 100 people in the UK have now tested negative for coronavirus, the Department of Health and Social Care has said.
The latest results show that 97 people have been given the all-clear for the virus, although scientists predict it may well have already entered the country.
Construction teams have worked tirelessly to build the 1,000-bed hospital in Wuhan and expect to finish the building by the end of the week.
It will be named Huoshenshan, meaning Fire God Mountain Hospital. It is expected to take its first patients on February 3.
China is building four new hospitals to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
On Tuesday, the country’s National Health Commission said the death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 106.
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Authorities reported 25 deaths on Tuesday, with all but one in Hubei province, where the virus is believed to have originated.
A 50-year-old man in Beijing was among the victims - the first death in the Chinese capital from the coronavirus.
The number of confirmed cases in China has now reached 4,515, up from 2,835 a day earlier.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the UK government is “working on” how to bring Britons home from Wuhan, but that it is difficult to know how many are in the Chinese city.
He told BBC Breakfast: "For anybody who is there, one of the issues we have, working with our partners internationally on this, is actually identifying how many British citizens there are in Wuhan.
"One of the things we're asking people to do is to contact the consulate there to make them aware. People have started to do that.”
An estimated 200 UK citizens are thought to be in Wuhan wishing to return to the UK.
China has locked down cities across the province, isolating some 50 million people in a sweeping anti-disease effort.
China has extended the end of this week's Lunar New Year holiday, the country's busiest travel season, by three days to Sunday to keep the public at home and reduce the risk infection will spread.
Public schools and universities have been ordered to postpone reopening following the Lunar New Year holiday until further notice.
More than 40 cases have been confirmed elsewhere in the world, almost all involving Chinese tourists or people who visited Wuhan.
Germany confirmed its first case on Monday night.
The health ministry in the southern state of Bavaria said the man from Starnberg, south of Munich, is "in a clinically good condition".
Officials said the man is being medically isolated, and people who were in close contact with him are being informed about possible symptoms and hygiene measures.