Under the command of the Central Military Commission, the aircraft took off in the early hours of Sunday from a military airport and headed for the cities of Shenyang, Lanzhou, Guangzhou and Nanjing. Once loaded with the medical staff and supplies, the aircraft took off again and arrived in Wuhan between 8:55 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. successively.

It is the largest number of large transport aircraft dispatched by the PLA air force in non-combat military operations after its disaster relief efforts in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province and the 2010 Yushu earthquake in Qinghai Province.

* A total of 475 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Sunday, Chinese health authorities announced Monday (February 3).

By the end of Sunday, a total of 361 people had died of the disease and 17,205 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in China.

* China's total mask output has topped 10 million pieces daily as domestic mask producers resumed 60 percent of production capacity, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The MIIT has been urging related enterprises to resume work and production and coordinated the supply of raw materials and key components for the production in an effort to ensure an adequate supply of medical equipment to prevent the spread of the virus.

* Approved by Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping, 1,400 medical staff from the armed forces are tasked with treating patients in Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan starting from Monday. Huoshenshan Hospital, with a capacity of 1,000 beds, is a makeshift hospital dedicated to treating patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

* Entrusted by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan has inspected a newly-delivered hospital to combat coronavirus in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province.

* Chinese authorities on Sunday stressed providing greater medical supplies support to central China's Hubei Province, particularly the key regions -- the city of Wuhan and its surrounding areas -- to help curb the epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus.

* China has pledged to ensure safe travels for people returning to work after the Spring Festival holidays amid the novel conoravirus outbreak, authorities said. China's railways are to step up prevention and control of infections during the trips, which now include screening at both entrances and exits of all operating railway stations across the country.

Source: NDO