Approved by Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping, 1,400 medical staff from the armed forces have been deployed and tasked with treating patients in Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan starting Monday.

Huoshenshan Hospital, with a capacity of 1,000 beds, is one of the two makeshift hospitals dedicated to treating patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

It was formally delivered to military medics on Sunday. 

The medics consist of 950 people from hospitals affiliated to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Joint Logistic Support Force, and 450 from medical universities of the army, navy and air force of the PLA who were sent to Wuhan earlier.

Among the medical staff, many had participated in the fight against SARS in Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing, in the anti-Ebola mission in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and have ample experience in treating infectious diseases.

There will also be 15 experts guiding the hospital's epidemic prevention and control on the spot.

The construction of another makeshift hospital, Leishenshan Hospital, is underway. With a capacity of 1,500 beds, it is scheduled to be put into use on February 5 and take patients on February 6.

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