Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article misstated when patients may be airlifted to Albuquerque and from where. The helipad has been built in case of a surge of patients.

The parking lot of an Albuquerque football stadium has been quickly transformed into a helipad in preparation for a possible influx of COVID-19 patients.

The rapid transformation has happenedin the parking lot at Albuquerque Public Schools' Milne Stadium.

The landing pad is within a 10-minute drive from a number of hospitals.

The stadium is usually a high school football and track facility, but Sunland Asphalt spent most of the weekend repaving the parking lot so it would be able to handle a medical helicopter.

A spokesperson with Sunland Asphalt initially had said the helipad was being built to transport COVID-19 patients from northern Arizona and the Navajo Nation as soon as Monday, but Presbyterian Healthcare Services spokeswoman Melanie Mozes told The Arizona Republic on Monday that is not the case.

"We are working collaboratively with the City of Albuquerque and other partners to prepare an additional helipad should a patient surge occur," Mozes said.

"We do not anticipate that local hospitals will be using the helipad until that surge occurs but wanted to be prepared in advance. The helipad is not intended for a specific population or Arizona residents," she said.​

"As a hospital, we serve anyone, regardless of their state of residence. But, this helipad was not for any specific population or residents of Arizona and would most likely be used, if needed at all, for New Mexicans," she said.

The mayor of Albuquerque, the governor of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Flagstaff Medical Center is one of the only major hospitals in all of northern Arizona. As a result, it has cared for the vast majority of COVID-19 patients in the area.

The Navajo Nation has been especially hard struck by the coronavirus pandemic as it has swept across the country.

Approximately 175,000 Navajo citizens live across the 24,700 square miles throughout Arizona, Utah and Colorado. The tribe and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service said the number of positive coronavirus tests reached 1,197 as of Saturday, with 44 deaths.

As of Saturday, nearly 60% of all Navajo Nation COVID-19 cases were in Arizona.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses the phrase "flatten the curve" to describe the process of lowering the rate of global infection. However, northern Arizona health officials have expressed concern that there hasn't been enough progress.

"We have not seen a flattening of the curve. ... The patients coming from the reservation are very, very ill and they need the support of our intensivists and larger critical care teams at Flagstaff Medical Center,'' Flo Spyrow, CEO for Northern Arizona Healthcare, told The Republic last week.

When the Flagstaff hospital gets more critically ill COVID-19 patients than it can handle, they are transferred to hospitals in Phoenix, she said.

Northern Arizona Healthcare spokeswoman Karlee Weiler told The Republic on Monday that Guardian Air Medical Transport had not airlifted any patients to New Mexico, but did not say whether any of the health care system's facilities had hit capacity.

Republic reporter Stephanie Innes contributed to this article. Reach Ryan at ryan.vlahovich@arizonarepublic.com or follow him on Twitter @vlahovichryan.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral today.