Around the country, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been rapidly assessing and building alternate care facilities to alleviate strain on local hospitals. Per CNN, as of April 9, there are 432,579 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., with 14,830 deaths. While most of these facilities are being designed to handle non-COVID-19 patients, McCormick Place convention center in Chicago will be set up to treat up to 3,000 low to moderate coronavirus patients, thereby freeing up hospital beds for more severe cases.
According to Walsh Construction, the firm leading the temporary conversion, patients will be separated in the convention center halls by level of care required. Construction for the first 500 beds was completed April 3, while the rest of the field hospital is expected to be finished by April 24.