Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to become temporary 350-bed hospital in coronavirus battle

Chris Bumbaca | USA TODAY

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The USTA is stepping up to help New York hold serve in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

As increased hospitalizations to treat COVID-19 crowd the region's hospitals, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the site of the U.S. Open, in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park will be converted into a 350-bed medical facility, with construction beginning as soon as Tuesday, spokesman Chris Widmaier told the Wall Street Journal.

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The makeshift hospital is intended for patients who do not have COVID-19, but that could change.

"We're there to do whatever the city and state needs," Widmaier told the Journal.

Louis Armstrong Stadium, part of the tennis center, will become a commissary for the hospital and will produce 25,000 meal packages per day, each containing six meals.

The U.S. Open is still scheduled to begin Aug. 24.