Doctors take high risks treating patients

Footage from a Chinese state broadcaster showed Wuhan healthcare workers conducting lung intubations - a hazardous medical procedure - on patients with severe COVID-19 cases. CCTV reported that these workers were at high risk of contracting the new virus as they have to work close to the throats of the patients.

On top of normal protective clothing, team members donned positive-pressure breathing apparatuses to better protect them from the virus when the patient's airways were opened.

More than 40,000 medical staff from across China are in Hubei province, where the virus epidemic first broke out, according to the country's health authorities.

Many are critical care specialists, working in new hospitals and existing intensive care units.

According to China's National Health Commission, there are now 23,000 hospital beds for Wuhan's COVID-19 patients.

Over 9,000 of them are for severe cases.

Mainland China has now reported 78,824 cases of the virus, alongside 2,788 deaths.