Photo: Global Times

To better focus on treating COVID-19 patients, Beijing Ditan Hospital in Chaoyang district will stop all outpatient and emergency treatment from Thursday, the hospital announced on Wednesday night.

According to the announcement posted on Sina Weibo, the hospital said the inpatient department will stop accepting "ordinary" inpatients, and the shuttle bus service to the hospital will also stop operating.

Beijing reported 31 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 137. All confirmed COVID-19 patients registered since June 11 are receiving treatment in Ditan Hospital.

The hospital has more than 20 doctors and 60 nurses in its emergency treatment wards, and they will now work to help relieve pressure from the increasing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The isolation ward of Beijing Ditan Hospital has 300 beds for patients with infectious diseases, China Central Television (CCTV) reported. More than  100 medical workers from 19 hospitals in Beijing were dispatched to Ditan Hospital on Tuesday, the report said. 

Ditan Hospital's medical support teams will also get help from 24 doctors, 62 nurses, eight examiners and six radiologists from 19 of the 22 municipal-level hospitals in Beijing, who have responded to an emergency call from Beijing Hospitals Authority, the municipal hospital management center, said Pan Suyan, the center's director.  

Many of the medical workers had earlier this year been dispatched to Hubei, the province hit hardest by the coronavirus, or participated in treatment of COVID-19 patients in Beijing.