UK health minister announces new hospital

The British government is to build a new temporary public hospital at one of Britain's biggest conference centres, the ExCeL centre in London, to cater for 4,000 COVID-19 patients, health secretary Matt Hancock said Tuesday.

Hancock also said the goverment has ordered three and a half million antibody tests that will allow people to see whether they have previously been infected with the new coronavirus.

Most patients who contract the new coronavirus develop only mild symptoms and recover after about two weeks.

But the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those with no visible symptoms.

For older adults and people with underlying health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.