A part of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is going to transform into a 350-bed temporary hospital on Tuesday, as stated by the USTA with the coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak straining resources in the New York City. The city has been severely affected due to the pandemic.
The site where the US Open takes place has been turned into a hospital due to the medical crisis that has gripped the world and has brought all types of professional sports to a halt for quite some time.
US Open venue turns into hospital
Chris Widmaier, spokesman for the US Tennis Association, which owns the tennis center, told Reuters that the conversion of an indoor tennis facility on the venue would begin Tuesday."We're here to help – no two ways about it," Widmaier said. "New York is our home, we're all in this together."
New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) informed the USTA of its plans on Monday, after previously telling the organization that the tennis center was a potential venue for auxiliary medical care. "The site is likely to be non-Covid patients, and we will evaluate based on need," NYCEM spokesman Omar Bourne said.
He added that the city is "actively working to identify spaces that can be used to expand hospital capacity throughout the five boroughs," but did not elaborate. News of the Flushing Meadows facility comes a day after New York began construction on a 68-bed field hospital in Central Park, as the city strains to accommodate the volume of patients at its medical centers.
(With agency inputs)
