Saudi Arabia builds two makeshift hospitals in Mecca

Dubai: Two make-shift hospitals with 100-bed capacity have been set up in the holy city of Mecca to receive COVID-19 patients, the Okaz newspaper reported Monday. The General Department for Medical Services of the Armed Forces built the field hospitals on behalf of the Ministry of Defence to accommodate any potential rise in COVID-19 cases.

The two mobile hospitals are equipped with the necessary medical and health equipment to deal with infected patients. The field hospitals are located about 2km from the isolated neighbourhoods of the city and will operate in cooperation with the Health Affairs Department in Mecca Province.

The move comes in line with the Saudi leadership's directives to harness all capabilities to safeguard the health of the citizens and expatriates.

This cooperation is part of the integrated efforts between the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Health at all levels, whether at the level of stationary hospitals or the mobile hospitals and the fleet of medical evacuation aircraft that operate round the clock to deal with these cases.