Chinese military sends 4,000 medical staff to Wuhan

The Chinese military has sent over 4,000 medical staff to Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, a military official said Monday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called the spread of the virus outbreak "a grave situation," death toll in mainland China is over 2,900.

There are now more than 80,000 cases worldwide and about 3,000 deaths - with over 2,200 occurring in Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in late December.

At a press conference on Monday, Chen Jingyuan, an official of logistical support department of Central Military Commission, said the military medical teams in Hubei have treated 4,450 patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia, or COVID-19, and 1,000 of them have been cured and discharged.

Huoshenshan Hospital manned by military medical staff have treated 1,597 since it was put into use from February 4 and 611 patients have been cured and discharged, according to Chen.

Over 2,000 medical workers have been reported to be infected across the country amid the outbreak.

In addition to medical treatment, the army is also undertaking tasks such as vaccine research and virus source tracing, said Chen.