Borussia Dortmund is to make its home stadium, the Signal Iduna Park, Germany's largest football stadium, available to help the fight against the coronavirus with immediate effect, the Bundesliga club announced on Friday.
According to Dortmund, starting from Saturday, it is medical care -- for coronavirus patients and suspected cases, as well as for patients experiencing related complaints -- rather than football that will take center-stage in the North Stand area at Signal Iduna Park, reports Xinhua news agency.
"Our stadium is the flagship of our city; it is a focal point for almost everyone in Dortmund and the surrounding area, and thanks to its technical, infrastructural and spatial qualities it is the ideal location to actively help people who have been infected with the coronavirus or who are experiencing related complaints such as respiratory problems and fever," said Hans-Joachim Watzke, the CEO of the club.
"It is our responsibility and our wish to do absolutely everything in our power to ensure these people get help," he added.
The treatment centre will complement outpatient medical care by ensuing that patients and suspected cases are treated outside the general population of healthcare facilities.
At the same time, it may allow for possible infection chains to be broken because contact with other patients, doctors and staff in the individual medical practices is avoided.
In the center, the severity of the illness shall be assessed by a doctor and a decision will then be taken as to whether the patient can be treated as an outpatient or needs to be transferred to a clinic. The patients will also receive the required prescriptions there.
Dortmund told Xinhua that the new treatment structures at Signal Iduna Park are intended exclusively for patients who are suspected of having a COVID-19 infection.
