Prince Charles makes history, opens NHS Nightingale for coronavirus patients virtually

Charles opened the British government's first NHS hospital to treat coronavirus patients on Friday. The 71-year-old made history when he became the first member of the British royal family to conduct an opening ceremony from his Birkhall home, remotely via video.

"(It's) an example -- if ever one was needed -- of how the impossible could be made possible," Prince Charles said via video link. He added the construction of the medical facility as a "spectacular and almost unbelievable feat," as reported by Mirror.

The heir to the British throne said he was "enormously touched" to have been asked to open the hospital that was built in just nine days. "It is without doubt a spectacular and almost unbelievable feat of work in every sense, from its speed of construction in just nine days to its size and the skills of those who have created it.

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

"The creation of this hospital is the result of an extraordinary collaboration and partnership between NHS managers, the military and all those involved to create a centre on a scale that has never been seen before in the United Kingdom," the prince added.

NHS Nightingale Hospital at the ExCel centre in east London will be used to treat COVID-19 patients who have been transferred from other intensive care units across London. It is now the largest critical care facility in the world. It will initially provide up to 500 beds equipped with ventilators and oxygen. Once it become fully functional, the hospital will have capacity for between 4,000 and 5,000 beds.

According to the country's Department of Health and Social Care, more than 33,000 people in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus, and almost 3,000 have died.

The Prince of Wales completed self-isolation following his coronavirus diagnosis this week. He and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Camilla are following social distancing in their Birhall home in the Scottish Highlands. The couple who was scheduled to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Jordan cancelled their spring tour due to the coronavirus pandemic.