Dubai Government has announced that it is developing a large field hospital within the Dubai World trade Centre to deal with any potential increases in COVID-19 patients.

According to official reports, the hospital will have critical facilities and size needed for the proper functioning of a large hospital. Dubai Health Authority is installing medical equipment at the new field hospital and staffing the facility to ensure that it can start operating as soon as there is a requirement for increased capacity.

The temporary hospital will operate under the umbrella of DHA, the CCOVID-19 Command and Control Centre, and the Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in Dubai.

Meanwhile, Humaid Al Qutami, director general of Dubai Health Authority, said the field hospital, which will be developed in phases within DWTC, can be expanded to provide up to 3,030 beds.

He added that it will be staffed by well-trained medical staff including doctors, nurses and para-medical personnel, and will aid in maximising the capacity of Dubai’s healthcare system. He, however, stressed that currently there is no requirement to increase the capacity.

Dr Amer Ahmad Sharif, vice chancellor of the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences and head of Dubai’s COVID-19 Command and Control Centre, said the field hospital provides additional capacity that will create further confidence in the Dubai healthcare system’s ability to contain the COVID-19 outbreak and deal with unexpected scenarios that may arise in the short term.

The decision to establish the field hospital was made to ensure Dubai is ready to handle any kind of future situation, Dr Sharif concluded.