KUCHING: Sarawak will build an infectious disease centre in the Kuching-Samarahan corridor to ensure outbreak preparedness and spearhead the fight against future pandemics in the state. The Sarawak Research and Development Council said the project was expected to commence very soon for the centre to be operational by 2024. "The site will be adjacent to the Sarawak Heart Centre (in Kota Samarahan) to ensure synergy between the two agencies. "It will also has the ability to ramp up diagnostic and hospital bed capacity in the event of a pandemic with the provision of space for a 1,000-bed field hospital," the council said in a statement on Wednesday (March 17).