Chinese military sends 4,000 medical staff to Wuhan

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

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

re are w more than 80,000 cases worldwide and about 3,000 deaths - with over 2,200 occurring in Wuhan, where 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 military medical teams in Hubei have treated 4,450 patients with vel coronavirus pneumonia, or COVID-19, and 1,000 of m 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 country amid outbreak.

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