The South Korean football federation announced Tuesday its main national team training center will house coronavirus patients starting this week.

From Wednesday, the main building at the National Football Center (NFC) in Paju, north of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, will be open for those with mild cases of COVID-19, the Korea Football Association (KFA) said.

The KFA said it is working with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to keep the NFC open to patients for a maximum two months.

Before the NFC is returned to national football teams, the building will be cleaned and disinfected for up to two weeks.

The KFA said access to the NFC for anyone outside patients and medical personnel will be strictly controlled.

Virtually all football action has come to a stop in South Korea and across the world in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic. With no national team matches scheduled in the foreseeable future, the KFA chose to put the idle NFC to good use and "play a small part to curtail the virus."

Last week, all KFA employees and executives donated blood to help with the sharp drop in blood supplies.

"In the face of adversity affecting Korean society, all employees and staff of the KFA came up with various initiatives to contribute in any way possible," KFA President Chung Mong-gyu said.

"Since we're unable to assemble national team players, we felt it was only right to turn the NFC into a treatment center for patients. We'll try to provide a comfortable environment for those in need." (Yonhap)