
The authorities in Moscow are rushing to build a dedicated £92 million hospital to cope with an expected major rise in coronavirus victims - despite the current number of cases in Russia standing at 34.

City mayor Sergey Sobyanin has ordered the facility even though Russia currently has among the fewest victims among major countries.

He said the hospital will be constructed at least 800 ft from the nearest residential building some 40 miles southwest of the Kremlin.

An aerial view of the site where a new infectious diseases hospital for coronavirus patients is to be constructed in the village of Babenki, the Troitsk Administrative District, just 40 miles southwest of the Kremlin in Moscow

'I guarantee that it will not pose any threat to the local population,' he said, announcing that rapid construction has begun.

'I am asking you to understand my decision.'

The mayor, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, acted even though the total number of coronavirus infections in Russia now stands at 34, including those now clear of the condition.

Of these some 23 have been recorded in Moscow city and the surrounding region. Officially there have been no deaths from coronavirus in Russia.

Vehicles and diggers were seen loading building equipment onto the area as the construction project began yesterday

An aerial view of the site where the new infectious diseases hospital is to be constructed 800km away from the nearest house

Construction has begun on the site where the new infectious diseases hospital is to be built in a currently barren field

A worker is pictured walking across the newly laid foundations at the site of the infectious diseases hospital

The £92million hospital will be built close to Moscow's city centre in Russia despite the country only facing 34 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Pictured, Moscow's Kommunarka Hospital currently accepts suspected coronavirus cases

'The hospital will be built within a short time using pre-fabricated structures but still kitted out with advanced medical equipment,' said Sobyanin, a 61-year-old grandfather.

It is unclear from official statements how many patients the infectious diseases hospital will hold, or when it will be ready to open.

'An outer fencing and security zone will be created around the hospital building,' he said.

'Sewage runoffs will be channelled to autonomous treatment facilities equipped with decontamination systems.'

A map showing the latest virus cases around the world, with Italy now recording the highest number of cases outside mainland China

Building materials were pictured stacked on top of each other as machinery lined up to begin work at the site yesterday

Progress continued through the night with bright lights allowing construction workers to continue in their excavators

It is unclear from official statements how many patients the infectious diseases hospital will hold, or when it will be ready

He said: 'An area in New Moscow (suburb), located outside the 'concrete ring', has been chosen as the site for the hospital's construction.

'There are no major residential areas in that district.

'Individual houses are situated 250 metres from the future hospital.

'This distance is two-and-a-half times larger than the recommended sanitary zone.'

Sobyanin insisted that existing hospitals were coping with infectious diseases including coronavirus.

A village directly next to the site (pictured) boasts a few homes, but it is thought they will be out of reach of contamination

The site was flattened before materials were brought in ready to lay the building's foundations as construction began

The site at Voronovskoye, close to the village of Golokhvastovo, was teaming with activity as lorries queued up along a road

Work carried on into the night as the construction workers raced to finish the project before Covid-19 spread any further

But he said: 'Every new case requires the hospitalisation of the patient, as well as a few more people.

'Everyone who has had contact with the carrier is hospitalised in case they show even the slightest signs of acute respiratory infection.

'There are lots of other 'preventive' cases of hospitalisation, which do not lead to confirmation of coronavirus.

'Naturally, the city should be prepared for any turn of events.'

The new hospital is to 'bolster our preparedness', he said.

Currently two hospitals are at the centre of the Russian capital's war against coronavirus - Kommunarka Hospital and the Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital Number One.

'We have started building a new hospital for infectious diseases, and we will keep working on it,' said the mayor.

The site is at Voronovskoye, close to the village of Golokhvastovo.

It comes months after the Chinese government ordered construction workers to build a six-acre, 1,000-bed, coronavirus hospital from scratch in seven days in Wuhan

‹ Slide me › The emergency facility, named the Huoshenshan or Fire God Mountain Hospital, is situated in the suburbs of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak which has killed at least 26, infected around 920 and spread to nine other countries and regions

The project was confirmed by the Moscow Urban Development Policy and Construction Authority.

It comes just months after the Chinese government ordered construction workers to build a six-acre, 1,000-bed, coronavirus hospital from scratch in seven days.

The emergency facility, named the Huoshenshan or Fire God Mountain Hospital, is situated in the suburbs of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak which has killed at least 26, infected around 920 and spread to nine other countries and regions.

The authorities instructed four construction companies to toil through the Chinese New Year holiday to build the medical centre.

It received its first batch of patients after just 10 days of construction on February 4.

Some 1,400 military medics were brought in from the People's Liberation Army to run the new hospital, which was made of revamped shipping containers and prefabricated buildings.