Fancang hospitals are temporary hospitals converted from public venues like stadiums in order to provide large scalemedical isolation and health care for patients with mild to moderate symptoms of an infectious disease.[2]: 256
In Wuhan, at the onset of theCOVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, general medical institutions and the newly expanded pneumonia specialist hospital were overwhelmed by the sudden surge inhospital bed demands by suspected COVID-19 cases.[6] Many patients with existing conditions were also turned away, leading to deaths which were otherwise preventable.[7][8] Authorities were criticized by experts and citizens alike.[7] Meanwhile, the large number of low-severity cases — almost all are individuals with suspected or mild symptoms — still needed at least a fortnight of isolation (due to theincubation period ofSARS-CoV-2).[citation needed]
Officials decided against home isolation for mild to moderate cases, as home isolation is not always properly complied with and it was difficult to organize medical care and monitoring for those in isolation. Furthermore, home isolation could be psychologically taxing on the patients as the patients know that they are putting their family members at risk of infection.[9] On the other hand, in-hospital isolation will hold up medical resources and increase the risk ofnosocomial exposure. Under such circumstances, the principle of centralized low-level care management of non-critical patients was adopted. TheGovernment of the People's Republic of China established 16 fangcang hospitals in Wuhan, providing a total of more than 20,000 beds.[10][11][12]
As of March 10, 2020, all patients admitted to the square cabin hospital of Wuhan Wushan Hongshan Stadium were discharged. Thus, all 16 fangcang hospitals in Wuhan completed their missions and their cabins were shut down.[13]
Fangcang (simplified Chinese:方舱;traditional Chinese:方艙;pinyin:fāngcāng), literally meaning "square cabin", is a Chinese term referring to a portablemodular building structure formed using a combination of various solid materials, most notablycargotectures. The concept of "Fangcang" was borrowed from militaryfield hospitals,[14] which was initially introduced by the United States military, who has been making makeshift structures since the 1950s.[15]
Outside of the context of theoutbreak, makeshift or Fangcang structures can refer to many kinds of modular structures.[15]
In Singapore, isolation facilities which were repurposed existing large-scale facilities, like theSingapore Expo, are partially modelled after the Fangcang hospital design.[25]
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