A British builder filmed inside the massive London venue which Boris Johnson's government is turning into a coronavirus hospital
- A worker has released footage showing the inside of the east London venue being turned into a massive new hospital.
- Boris Johnson's government is turning the ExCeL centre into a care unit for coronavirus patients.
- It will be divided into two wards, each capable of treating 2,000 patients.
- In the footage, worker Alex Woodside says: "If you're not taking it seriously like I wasn't, I think we really need to start, because they're preparing for an absolute high death toll here."
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A British builder has released footage showing the inside the conference centre in east London which Boris Johnson's UK government is turning into a temporary hospital capable of treating up to 4,000 coronavirus patients.
Worker Alex Woodside has filmed the inside of ExCeL centre, which is currently being transformed into the "Nightingale Hospital."
The temporary hospital will be divided into two wards, and managed by both National Health Service staff and the British military, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced on Tuesday, March 24.
In the footage, Woodside says: "I didn't take this virus very, very seriously until I saw this ... This is the size of hall, where it's all going. We've got four thousand beds to go in. Two morgues."
"This hall is a kilometer long, you know. And there's a hall out on the other side as well."
He adds: "If you're not taking it seriously like I wasn't, I think we really need to start, because they're preparing for an absolute high death toll here."
Here's the footage:
Prime Minister Johnson has this week stepped up the UK's social distancing rules in a bid to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
On Monday, March 23, he introduced a ban on all social gatherings and public gatherings of more than two people, and said people could only leave their homes for essential reasons like buying food and medicine.
There were over 9,529 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the UK as of this morning, with 465 deaths linked to it.
Over half a million Brits have volunteered to help the NHS support around 1.5 million people who have been identified as most vulnerable to the virus.
Follow the latest developments in the UK's fight against the coronavirus.
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