The outbreak of COVID-19 has left the human race dealing with an unprecedented situation. There is still a lot we do not know about the disease as our healthcare professionals do their very best to contain the outbreak and find a cure for their patients. This is one of the situations where you only learn by trial and error, as we go along the way. Because they are at the forefront of it all, hospitals are faced with the problem of how to operate efficiently while taking the necessary measures to keep staff and other patients safe against Coronavirus. This article highlights how some companies and industries innovated, and changed their ways to better fight this new strain of disease.
Coronavirus Testing Centres
Two of the most pressing needs at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic are hospital beds and testing centres. In Australia, a consortium is working towards developing two designs: one for hospital ICUs and another for COVID-19 testing centres. For both these projects, fabricated steel is any construction company’s best bet.
For both schemes, it is speculated that steel would be a better material to use since it is lightweight and strong at the same time. Moreover, steel panels will be used for both the interior as well as the exterior of the testing centre since they are easy to work with.
Steel Hygiene/ Sanitation Stations
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, people from many countries have decided to step up sanitation stations where people could wash their hands and/or be showered with a disinfectant solution. These are usually stainless-steel structures through which people can walk through. The material of choice for either kind of sanitation station is steel—it is easier to clean since it is not a porous surface.
Using Steel to Construct Isolation Wards
Not only has the pandemic been a challenge to doctors and those working in disease control, but it also posed a challenge to construction companies. For example, when the pandemic first broke out, China built a fully operational healthcare facility in 10 days. Following suit, many other countries have built hospitals and pop-up clinics to combat this pandemic. One such example would be the pop-up clinic in Emerald, Central Queensland. For this clinic they used steel structures in the construction of these hospitals. This is mainly because of the high-speed construction, cost-effectiveness, flexibility and maintenance hot-rolled galvanised steel provides.
When you start a building with steel, the weight on the foundation is considerably lighter than if it was made with concrete. This allows the foundation to weigh less and making the transfer of loads essentially cheaper. Lighter loads mean less construction time onsite therefore reduced risk of managing safety (70% labour reduction is possible in fact). Arguably steel is a quick and cost effective way to construct additional isolation wards in existing buildings.
If you are one of the COVID-19 treating hospitals looking to construct more isolation wards in your hospital or to set up sanitation stations around the entrances of your hospital, you should consider steel as your material.
Milo Steel has been serving the Australian industry for over 25 years. We provide fabrication and manufacturing service and the assembly of complex steel component for construction and commercial purposes. If you’re interested in availing our services, call us at 07 5594 7944 or contact us online.
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