China's State Council on Friday announced a one-on-one support system in the fight against coronavirus, which assigns one of 16 provinces or municipalities to a specific city in Hubei Province to relieve the shortage of medical personnel. The 16 cities including Huanggang and Xiaogan, need no less help than the provincial capital Wuhan.

China's top medical professionals began traveling to their designated cities this weekend, but first loaded up on adult diapers and got a new haircut. 

To reduce time spent putting on protective equipment and to lower the risk of exposure to the virus, five male doctors from intensive care units in Xiangya Hospital of Central South University shaved their heads completely bald.

As there is limited time for nurses to take a shower or wash their hair, many of them chose to cut their hair short.

"I hope we can realize 'zero infection' in medical staff and a '100 percent cure rate' in patients," said nurse Deng Guiyuan of the cardiology department, who had her shoulder-length hair cut before departure.

Deng is among the third batch of 130-member medical teams of the Xiangya Hospital of Central South University departing on February 7 to aid the coronavirus control efforts in Wuhan Union Hospital West Campus.

Looking good is also no longer important for the 228 medics from Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital. On February 5, the team stationed in Wuhan asked three hairdressers to cut their hair for 11.5 hours in a temporary barbershop in the hotel where they are staying.

"The hair will grow back. I must be responsible for the safety of my patients and myself," said nurse Guo Jiameng. She said she'll return to Wuhan to see the cherry blossoms with her long hair after the epidemic.

Over 11,000 medical personnel, including 3,000 intensive care specialists and the country's best ICU staff, have been dispatched to Wuhan as of last week.

The mode of pairing one city with one province, will also help other virus-hit cities in Hubei get the help that they are in dire need of.

With the newly built hospitals now in service and more medical staff arriving on the frontlines, Hubei has made some progress in the fight, with hope in the number of recovering patients.