Medical teams from across China join anti-coronavirus efforts

More than 3,300 medics at Peking Union Medical College Hospital applied to participate in frontline efforts to combat the novel coronavirus within 24 hours of recruitment starting on Friday.

The 3,306 applicants, including 1,042 doctors and 1,288 nurses, involved almost all staff members at the hospital, according to a press release published by the PUMCH.

The new coronavirus has caused 830 confirmed cases of pneumonia in 29 provincial-level regions of China as of the end of Thursday.

The first medical teams boarded a train from Shanghai to Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, and more medics across the country are expected to reinforce the city, locked down since Thursday (Jan 23) due to the spread of a new coronavirus.

According to a notice from the Shanghai Health Commission, three medical teams, each consisting of 135 doctors and nurses, are being recruited across municipal hospitals, some district hospitals and the specialized hospitals on epidemics.

The notice was posted by People's Daily on Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblog platform, with a photo showing the medics on a high-speed train and many respectful comments posted by netizens.

Shanghai-based newspaper Wenhui Bao reported the first team has doctors from the city's most famous hospitals, including Zhongshan and Huashan Hospital.

The report said Zhong Ming, deputy director of the intensive care unit at Zhongshan Hospital, has canceled his family's overseas travel plans and boarded the train with his colleagues.

In Tongren Hospital, around 400 medical workers have signed up as volunteers to fight the virus in Wuhan, and doctors in Ruijin Hospital's respiratory department have all canceled their travel plans and gone on standby, according to the newspaper.

Medical teams from the provinces of Sichuan and Jiangsu are also being summoned by local authorities, according to several online sources.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, the epidemic has infected 571 people in Chinese mainland, and 17 patients have died. 393 suspected cases were reported as of midnight Jan 22, according to China's National Health Commission.