WUHAN — Two makeshift hospitals were suspended on March 8 in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province and the heart of the novel coronavirus outbreak, as the number of patients continued to drop, according to local authorities.

The city has suspended the operation of 11 makeshift hospitals, which were converted from public facilities for the treatment of patients with mild symptoms in the city.

One of these two hospitals, converted from a sports venue, had 1,000 beds with more than 1,000 medical and other staff. A total of 1,056 patients had been treated here since Feb 12, with no medical staff infected.

Another one, covering over 6,100 square meters, had treated 990 patients with 996 beds since Feb 17.

The medical staff in these hospitals will be on standby.

The provincial health commission said earlier that Hubei will gradually shut down temporary hospitals and cut the number of hospitals designated for the disease while maintaining strict prevention and control measures.