The temporary hospital at the ExCel centre was set up in just over a week and officially opened last Friday. A spokeswoman said: “Our first patients have now been admitted to the NHS Nightingale London, as planned.

“There is also treatment capacity available in other hospitals across London to complement the care being provided at the London Nightingale.”

The hospital will treat Covid-19 patients who have been transferred from other intensive care units across London.

The facility was set up in just over a week by NHS contractors with the assistance of around 200 military personnel.

The hospital, which is named after nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale, is split into more than 80 wards containing 42 beds each and will need up to 16,000 staff to keep it running.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who has recovered from coronavirus, said the “extraordinary project” was a “testament to the work and the brilliance of the many people involved”.

He also praised the NHS, adding: “In these troubled times with this invisible killer stalking the whole world, the fact that in this country we have the NHS is even more valuable than before.”

The hospital was opened by Prince Charles via video-link from his Scottish residence Birkhall.

Charles, who came out of self-isolation last week after testing positive for coronavirus, said: “It is without doubt a spectacular and almost unbelievable feat of work in every sense, from its speed of construction – in just nine days as we’ve heard – to its size and the skills of those who have created it.

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

He added: “Let us also pray, ladies and gentlemen, that it will be required for as short a time, and for as few people as possible.”

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Other new hospitals will open across the country in the coming weeks, with sites planned in Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Harrogate, Cardiff, Belfast and Glasgow.

It comes as there have been 55,242 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, with the death toll at 6,159.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is spending a second night in intensive care with the virus.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister’s condition is stable and he remains in intensive care for close monitoring. He is in good spirits.”

Mr Johnson, 55, was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital in London on Sunday due to suffering symptoms for 10 days.

He was moved to intensive care on Monday evening after his condition worsened.

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