Coronavirus Update: 250-Bed Hospital Being Set Up At Miami-Dade Fairgrounds
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Instead of crowds lining up for carnival rides, there are construction crews at the Miami-Dade County fairgrounds.
They're working on building a 250-bed field hospital there in case it is needed to house coronavirus patients.
Officials say there are no plans to open it for now, but it will serve as a backup, in case our hospital system starts to get overwhelmed.
The Youth Fair offered the use of a tented area off Coral Way on the fairgrounds site, said Ray Casas, a spokesman for the Youth Fair, the nonprofit that rents the fairgrounds at Tamiami Park from Miami-Dade.
Crews from a Kentucky company, Emergency Disaster Services, arrived Monday and construction continued Tuesday morning.
"There's a hospital going up right now," he said.
Construction should be finished Friday, but it's not known when the field hospital would become operational.
Representatives of Miami-Dade were not available for comment.
Mayor Carlos Gimenez has issued emergency orders closing thousands of businesses, parks and entertainment options in an effort to reduce human contact and slow the spread of COVID-19 in order to ease pressure on hospitals.
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