Work begins on two field hospitals in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot as demand expected to rise
Two sites in the Swansea Bay area will be transformed into field hospitals in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Work has started at the Llandarcy Academy of Sport and Bay Studios on Fabian Way.
Up to 1,340 temporary beds could be available if needed in the weeks ahead as demand is expected to rise.
It is in addition to extra beds created in Morriston, Singleton and Neath Port Talbot hospitals, as outpatients and other clinical and public areas are redesigned as temporary ward space.
Work is expected to be completed at Llandarcy Academy of Sport within three to four weeks. The beds would be used for COVID-19 patients and other patients who need medical care, but they will be nursed in separate areas.
The beds at Bay Studios, if needed, will be for patients who are less ill, but not able enough to go home.
Contractors will be building the field hospital at the studio from scratch. A box will be built within the building's existing shell and new lighting, power, drainage and ventilation installed prior to the construction of the hospital rooms.
There are no plans to provide intensive care beds in either of the field hospitals, as the most seriously ill patients will be cared for in the main hospitals.
Tracy Myhill, Chief Executive of Swansea Bay University Health Board, said she is ''grateful and proud'' of how communities have come together.
Stadiums, leisure centres and a holiday park are being converted into field hospitals across Wales to help with the response to the virus.
The Principality Stadium, Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli and Bluestone National Park Resort are just some of the sites that will be become treatment or recovery centres.
Work has begun on the Scarlets training ground in Llanelli and on Friday 27 it was announced that the Principality Stadium in Cardiff will become a 2,000 bed temporary hospital.