- Thousands of medics from around China have been sent to Hubei province, where the deadly Wuhan coronavirus originated, to help authorities respond to the ever-growing number of cases.
- Around 6,000 medical workers have been parachuted in from across the country, officials said Tuesday.
- As of Wednesday, 132 people have been killed by the virus.
- On Wednesday, the number of Wuhan virus cases in mainland China also outstripped the number of SARS cases during the 2003 epidemic.
- A total of 5,974 cases of the Wuhan coronavirus have now been confirmed in mainland China, while the total number of cases of SARS on the mainland was 5,327.
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Thousands of medics from around China are being brought in to Wuhan and its surrounding region to help authorities respond to the ever-growing number of cases of the coronavirus that has now killed 132 people.
China's National Health Commission (NHC) said Tuesday that by the end of the day, around 6,000 medical workers from across the country will have been sent to Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, to help contain the virus. The news was reported by the state-run China Daily newspaper.
Some 4,130 health workers had already arrived in the city as of 8 p.m. Tuesday local time, China Daily reported at the time, and another 1,800 were expected to arrive before Wednesday.
"The medical workers are specialized in different areas, including respiratory and infectious diseases," Jiao Yahui, the NHC's deputy chief for medical administration and supervision, told reporters, according to China Daily.
Many of the medics being flown in, Yahui said, are "very experienced in similar emergency relief operations and have taken part in fighting the SARS outbreak in 2003 or helped controlling the Ebola outbreak in Africa."
China is taking aggressive measures to try and prevent the virus from spreading, including quarantining Wuhan and many other cities in Hubei province, and panic-building two new hospitals in Wuhan in under a week.
With Wuhan under quarantine, the city's doctors also say they are being overwhelmed by the growing number of cases and lack of medical equipment to meet the surge.
Doctors in Wuhan have reported on hours-long waits at hospitals, difficulties in screening the disease, and a lack of protective gear. Some doctors have even been told at times not to go to work over fears they could catch the virus.
Wuhan virus officially outstrips SARS on the mainland
News of the extra medical workers arriving in Hubei came soon before the NHC confirmed that the number of cases of the Wuhan coronavirus in mainland China officially eclipsed the number of SARS cases during its 2003 outbreak.
As of Wednesday morning, mainland China had 5,974 cases of the Wuhan coronavirus, while the total number of cases of SARS on the mainland was 5,327 by the end of its epidemic.
Globally, the number of SARS cases remains significantly higher, with around 8,100 people infected by the virus in 2003.
The death count was also substantially higher from SARS, with 349 people on the mainland killed, and 774 killed globally.
One hundred and thirty-two people have died from the Wuhan virus as of Wednesday. All of them had been in China recently.
This chart shows the total number of confirmed cases of both diseases globally as of Wednesday afternoon local time:
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