Prince Charles inaugurates new makeshift COVID-19 hospital via videolink

Britain's Prince Charles, who came out of self-isolation earlier this week after being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, on Friday inaugurated a new makeshift hospital in east London to treat the COVID-19 patients via videolink.

The 71-year-old heir to the British throne formally opened the 4,000-bed NHS Nightingale Hospital, created within days at the ExCel conference centre in London's Docklands, from his Birkhall home on Queen Elizabeth II's Balmoral estate in Scotland, where he has been working from home.

"It is without doubt a spectacular and almost unbelievable feat of work in every sense, from its speed of construction in just nine days as we've heard to its size and the skills of those who have created it," said Prince Charles.

"An example, if ever one was needed, of how the impossible could be made possible and how we can achieve the unthinkable through human will and ingenuity, he said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who continues to display "mild symptoms" of the COVID-19 as he self-isolates in Downing Street, issued his statement of gratitude via Twitter.

He said: "Thank you to everyone involved in building the new NHS Nightingale Hospital over the past fortnight. This immense effort means we will have an extra 4,000 beds to care for the coronavirus patients."