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Coronavirus pandemic
ChinaPolitics

Chinese cities call for bids to dismantle makeshift Covid hospitals and recycle materials

Items listed on auction inventories reportedly include prefabricated containers, air conditioners, fire extinguishers, beds and computers

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In cities around China, fangcang, or makeshift hospitals put up during the pandemic, are being removed. Over the past two years, hundreds have been transformed or dismantled. Phone: Xinhua
Vanessa Caiin Shanghai
Several Chinese cities have opened the bidding for firms to tear down makeshift hospitals built quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to domestic media outlet Caixin.

Local authorities have been working to remove the facilities, with materials and equipment up for auction since last year, Caixin reported, citing public resource trading platforms.

The makeshift hospitals, or fangcang, to be dismantled are mostly those assembled from prefabricated containers and placed in the suburbs. Local authorities, supported mainly by government funds, aim to recycle the materials and equipment from the facilities.
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Life inside China’s rapidly built hospitals in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak
Under China’s zero-Covid policy – which involved mass-testing, strict quarantine and lockdowns – a large number of temporary hospitals were set up to achieve the goal of accommodating all Covid-19 patients, regardless of how severe their symptoms were. In late 2022, mandatory quarantine requirements were lifted and makeshift hospitals across the country were left empty.

Domestic media reports have noted that dealing with these temporary buildings has been a “difficult problem to solve” for local governments. Over the past two years, hundreds of makeshift hospitals have been transformed, with some becoming official medical facilities and others dismantled.

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