City players Raheem Sterling and Steph Houghton among UK sports stars teaming up with the NHS for their #StayHomeSaveLives campaign
Sunday 29 March 2020 11:55, UK
Manchester City's Etihad Stadium will be partially taken over by the NHS to help in the fight against coronavirus
It is understood City will make available their executive boxes and conference rooms with the purpose of helping with the training of doctors and nurses during the crisis.
With the Premier League suspended until at least the end of April, City have no games scheduled for the foreseeable future.
It is not the first time the Premier League champions have helped out during a time of crisis. In 2017, the stadium became a refuge for victims of the Manchester Arena bombing.
A temporary hospital is already being built at the Manchester Central Convention Complex in the city centre in readiness for the expected peak in numbers of infected people.
London's ExCel Centre has already been transformed into the Nightingale Hospital with a capacity of 2,000 beds to help deal with the outbreak.
The Principality Stadium in Cardiff is also being opened up to help deal with the crisis. It will be converted into a temporary hospital providing around 2,000 additional beds to support the NHS.
The Irish FA has offered Windsor Park to health services as a coronavirus testing venue. IFA vehicles will also help deliver medical supplies.
City stars support NHS #StayHomeSaveLives campaign
City players Raheem Sterling and Steph Houghton are among the sports stars in the UK teaming up with the NHS for their #StayHomeSaveLives social media campaign.
It began on Friday night, when England's men's footballers should have been starting their friendly with Italy at Wembley.
In a show of solidarity with Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by COVID-19, the Wembley arch was lit up in the colours of the Italian flag.
On Saturday at 3pm, when football around the UK usually kicks off, the likes of Sterling, Houghton, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and other key sporting figures called on fans to stay at home to protect the NHS.
