Health and civil protection authorities in the Algarve are setting up two field hospitals in Faro and Portimão in a bid to improve the region’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The news was confirmed by Civil Protection District Commander Vítor Vaz Pinto in a press conference last Friday (April 3).
The field hospitals will be erected at the Pena Sports Pavilion in Faro and at the Portimão Arena in Portimão, the latter already the site of a drive-through testing centre (click here).
Each of the field hospitals will have a capacity for “80 to 100 patients”, said Vaz Pinto.
The facility in Faro will be located near the town’s main hospital and will serve as a “support area if necessary”.
Additionally, authorities are creating a network of around 1,800 beds for coronavirus patients with less severe symptoms.
The majority of beds (1,120) will be located in pavilions and schools across the region – 50 at Farense’s pavilion to support Faro Hospital – while 680 will be set up in local hotels.
The plan is to offer accommodation to “Covid-19 patients who do not require medical care or who have been discharged from hospital but cannot return home to their families because of their condition,” the regional civil protection boss explained.
The network has been approved by ARS Algarve, the regional health authority.
