DETROIT (WWJ) -- Efforts are well underway to transform downtown Detroit's TCF Center into a field hospital to treat COVID-19 patients amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers began construction Tuesday at the normal site of Detroit's North American International Auto Show. Officials expect a quarantined hospital setting with 1,000 beds across two levels of the convention center to be completed no later than April 8.
The facility is being constructed as Michigan continues to deal with a rise in numbers. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported more than 1,100 new cases and 75 additional deaths Tuesday, pushing the totals beyond 7,600 and 250, respectively.
Officials anticipate the virus will continue to spread rapidly in the coming weeks, further inundating Michigan's hospitals, creating the need for the field hospital.
The facility at TCF Center, formerly known as Cobo Center, will serve only COVID-19 patients. Patients with more severe cases will be treated on the upper level and recovering patients on the lower level. Nick Zager, with the Corps' alternate-care facility project office, tells WWJ crews got a big jump on Tuesday, and he anticipates the hospital could be completed before the original goal of April 8.
"They've hit the ground running. They were really prepared. Within a couple hours, they probably had 40, 50, 60 of these patient rooms set up," Zager said. "I can tell you, after being on-site today, it's looking like it could be quite a bit sooner than that. TCF has just been knocking it out of the park."
Corps. members on Tuesday began installing partitions between the temporary hospital rooms, as well as creating negative air pressure in order to prevent cross contamination between the rooms in the convention halls.
Zager also says crews began creating areas for hospital staff, as well as bathrooms and showers.
"Our chief of engineers, Gen. (Todd) Semonite, he often says 'we engineer solutions to our nation's toughest challenges.' And that's exactly what we intend to do with our partners," Zager said.
Officials announced the Corps. would help construct the hospital over the weekend, when they announced the cancelation of the 2020 NAIAS, which has been rescheduled to June, 2021. It was originally scheduled for June 7-20 at TCF Center, slated to become the first show held outside of the traditional January timeframe.