ISTANBUL, April 18 -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday inspected the construction zones of two COVID-19 hospitals in Istanbul from the air by a helicopter.
Turkey has been building the hospitals for COVID-19 patients in the Ataturk Airport area on the European side of the city and the Sancaktepe district on the Asian side.
On April 6, Erdogan said that construction on both sites were expected to be completed in 45 days.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca also visited the construction areas and said that "we will make Istanbul ready for disasters on both sides."
Koca said at a tweet that the "multipurpose hospital" in the Ataturk Airport area would constitute a strong health infrastructure for epidemic, earthquake and all kinds of disasters.
"Our hospital will have a total of 1,008 beds, which can be all converted into intensive care units," he added.
For the hospital in Sancaktepe, Koca said it would provide full capacity service with its 1,008 beds when completed.
"Turkey will continue to make a difference in the world with its health care system," he noted.
Turkey has so far recorded 82,329 coronavirus cases and 1,890 deaths, according to the latest data released on Saturday by the Health Ministry.