Union workers on Saturday started to fill the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, transforming the space from a venue into a 1,000-bed field hospital amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members of the Teamsters Local 25 in the Trade Show Division usually set up trade shows at the center. But Saturday, they started installing backup beds that will help to relieve the pressure on Boston hospitals during the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Local 25 Teamsters from Waltham Lumber are also part of the initiative. They have been delivering building materials to the center this week.

Union workers will be constructing the field hospital through the weekend. Teamsters Local 25 of Boston is New England’s largest Teamsters union with 12,500 members.

Field hospitals are also being set up in other parts of the state.

In Worcester, the DCU Center has been set up with 250 beds as the state’s first field medical station. In Springfield, the MassMutual Center has been identified as a surge treatment site for coronavirus patients in Western Massachusetts.

As of Friday afternoon, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced 38 more deaths from illness related to COVID-19 and 1,436 new cases among residents. A total of 192 residents have died and at least 10,402 residents have tested positive.