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 The rooms use a ventilation system that creates negative pressure to
allow air to flow into the isolation room and be channelled out
safely, helping prevent the spread of airborne pathogens.
They have become a vital tool for fighting the coronavirus pandemic,
but many countries have struggled to create them quickly enough.
The mobile clinic modules designed by a research team at the Korea
Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) are large
greenhouse-like inflatable tents, which the institute said cost a
fifth of the price of building a conventional hospital ward.
Nam Tek-jin, an industrial design professor who led the KAIST team,
says their tents, which are the size of a basketball court, can be
installed and equipped in less than a day.
"At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, facilities for mild patients
were not big a problem, but we noticed that space for seriously ill
patients was urgently in need as their condition would suddenly
deteriorate," Nam told Reuters.
"We thought of developing a facility for not just isolation, but
also treatment."
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 The frames, panels, and
lighting can be assembled on the spot to form a
negative pressure room with a separate entry
space and a shower pod in just 15 minutes, and
it takes less than 24 hours to set up the entire
air tent with four such rooms, he said.
The rooms are also equipped with panels that
allow medical workers to provide aid or pass
things like food without having to enter the
room and avoiding burn out from wearing
cumbersome gear, said Cho Min-su, a director at
the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical
Sciences.
Nam said the units are ready for mass
production, but no customers have been announced
yet.
(Reporting by Sangmi Cha; editing by Josh Smith
and Philippa Fletcher)
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