Hospital worker inspires

XIAMEN, Fujian－Chen Qianbai is one of the thousands of construction workers who took part in building Huoshenshan Hospital. While he says it felt like "mission impossible" to build a makeshift hospital from scratch in 10 days, it also provided hope of soon defeating the deadly novel coronavirus epidemic.

It is the first makeshift hospital built for treating patients infected with the coronavirus in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in central China's Hubei province. The 1,000-bed hospital started to receive patients on Feb 3.

Chen, deputy manager of the IOI project in Malaysia of the China Construction Third Engineering Bureau, volunteered for the project as soon as he saw a recruitment call for construction workers. On the eve of the Chinese New Year, a traditional day for family reunions, Chen headed to Wuhan, some 100 kilometers away from his hometown.

"I will never forget what I saw on that night," recalls Chen.

"The construction site was brightly lit. Thousands of people were already working there," he says. "The only thought that came to my mind was that I had to take part in the battle immediately and help complete the urgent task."

Chen and his colleges raced against time and worked in shifts day and night.

"To save time, we only had boxed meals every day, taking only five to seven minutes to eat," Chen says.

Chen, who was in charge of the hospital's drainage system and the construction site management, only had time to text short messages to his wife saying "I am still fine" every day.

"I feel honored to be part of this," Chen says. "We will win the battle. Cheer up, Wuhan!"