Coronavirus: Dubai's Crown Prince tours World Trade Centre field hospital

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed was shown around the site by a medic

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, visits the field hospital at the Dubai World Trade Centre. 

Sheikh Hamdan visited the field hospital before it opened in April.

The center was converted into a 3,000-bed facility.

The field hospital aimed to support existing medical facilities.

Sheikh Hamdan meets with medics.

The last patient was discharged in July.

Sheikh Hamdan meets with staff. The center is now back to hosting events.

Dubai’s Crown Prince has been given a tour of a vast field hospital set up within the city's World Trade Centre.

The new facility will provide more than 3,000 beds to help treat patients who have tested positive for coronavirus.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed posted a picture of himself on Instagram being shown around the unit on Saturday.

Observing social distancing at all times, he was guided by hospital staff as they viewed the facility's layout.

Hundreds of medics are expected to work at the site if it ever reaches full capacity.

Some 800 beds will be used by patients needing intensive care with the remainder taken up by those less seriously ill.

The new hospital is similar in set-up to London's ExCel centre, which was transformed into a 4,000-bed hospital now called NHS Nightingale.

The facility, which is owned by Abu Dhabi's Adnec centre, was fitted-out in the space of two weeks, with help from the British military.

"If we do go through a spike in cases, which is highly likely given what has happened in other countries that are ahead of us in the pandemic, then they are going to be absolutely vital if we are to deliver high quality healthcare,” said Dr Nicholas Wyon, a critical care specialist at Burjeel Medical City in Abu Dhabi.

"It may well turn out that the field hospitals are not needed, in which case we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

"It would be much worse to have not erected them and then be in a mass casualty situation."

Speaking last week, Humaid Al Qatami, director general of Dubai Health Authority, said the emirate had plans in place for "all scenarios".

But officials hope the country will turn a corner in the next three to four weeks as the nationwide stay-home order limits the number of new cases, and testing is ramped up to identify people suffering from the virus.