Pictures: Medical Staff In Wuhan With Dents And Sores From Protective Gear

The medical staff on the front line of the coronavirus outbreak are no doubt starting to feel the effects of their hard work, with more than 24,000 people around the globe now infected by the deadly virus.

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In fact, photos being shared on social media and by local news outlets show the physical toll the work is taking on their bodies, with the images revealing facial wounds suffered by the hardworking Chinese medical teams in Wuhan, where the outbreak started.



The photos have been shared on social media, with local news outlets saying the medical staff based in Wuhan, in the eastern Chinese province of Hubei, are currently on their feet non-stop.



In the images, young male and female workers - some looking completely exhausted - can be seen sporting deep dents in their skin, where the tightly fastened masks have caused sores and other minor injuries.

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Many medics are said to be so tired by the work they often finished the day sleeping on hospital chairs or floors before starting their next shift.

According to local media, the teams are also reportedly so busy they don't have much time to eat a meal or go to the toilet.

To help prevent infection, they currently have to wear heavy protective gear, including tightly secured face masks or goggles.

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More than 4,000 workers and 1,000 vehicles were also working around the clock recently to build the Huoshenshan Hospital - nicknamed 'Fire God Mountain' - in the city thought to be the virus' ground zero.

The makeshift centre in Huoshenshan, which includes 1,000 beds, was completed just 10 days after work it began, state media reported.

The 269,000-square-foot building is one of two new hospitals that has been constructed in Wuhan in the wake of the World Health Organisation's declaration of a global emergency.

The prefabricated hospital's design has reportedly been based on that of the one in Beijing that was constructed in 2003 to fight the outbreak of the SARS virus.

Authorities brought in specialist engineers from across China to help speed up the building process.

On Tuesday morning, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in China alone totalled more than 20,000.

The John Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering has built and is regularly updating an online dashboard for tracking the worldwide spread of the coronavirus outbreak, which has been traced back to a seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Currently, the map states that there have been 494 global deaths from the new coronavirus, which has also infected more than 24,000 to date.

Lauren Gardner, a civil engineering professor and CSSE's co-director, said: "We built this dashboard because we think it is important for the public to have an understanding of the outbreak situation as it unfolds with transparent data sources.

"For the research community, this data will become more valuable as we continue to collect it over time."

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