When Covid-19 broke out in Wuhan, 10,000 Chinese soldiers were sent to the region, taking an important role on the front line against nCoV.

Assigned by President Xi Jinping himself to participate in supporting anti-Covid-19 in Wuhan, the Chinese military (PLA) has taken on one of the heaviest responsibilities at the time of the country's crisis, military experts said.

President Xi last week chose the command center at the Fire God Army-operated field hospital as the first stop when he came to the center of Wuhan since the outbreak in China. He reaffirmed the military's leading role in the fight to repel nCoV.

Inside a three-storey building separated from the quarantine area that treats patients weighing about 500 meters, via video transmission, President Xi told members of the Chinese military medical team medical staff that the virus had basically been restraint in Wuhan and nearby cities.

Since Beijing declared a state of emergency in Hubei on January 25, the Central Military Commission of China (CMC) has mobilized more than 10,000 military personnel to the area, mostly military forces. The PLA is also given more authority than local governments to control medical supplies. This is an indication of China's central government's determination to prevent the virus from spreading.

The first 1,400 soldiers were sent to Hoa Than Son hospital on February 4, two days after the facility was completed. The 25,000 m2 hospital was built within 10 days and provided 1,000 intensive care beds.

"The Chinese military has been very well trained to respond quickly to any serious situation," said military expert Zhou Shenming in Beijing. "All anti-nCoV officers and soldiers are deployed on a non-traditional military mission, where they can demonstrate their readiness to complete their missions."

When the number of cases exceeded 60,000 in mid-February, President Xi ordered an additional 2,600 military personnel to go to two hospitals in Wuhan to help treat 1,600 patients. The order was issued just hours after he chaired a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The central government mobilized more than 60,000 medical personnel both civil and military to fight Covid-19. To date, more than 3,000 health workers have been infected with nCoV, but no one from the military medical team, Chen Jingyuan, director of the Military Medical Department, China's General Logistics Department, said.

When the SARS outbreak broke out in 2002-2003, CMC sent a medical team of 1,200 people to Beijing's Xiaoyangshan field hospital, helping treat 680 patients.

"The PLA has a lot of experienced epidemiologists and bacteriologists, because the military has a long history of research on biochemical warfare," Zhou said.

The PLA has established the Military Medical Academy (AMMS) since 1951. Its main mission is to study nuclear, biochemical and chemical warfare, similar to Fort Detrick base in Maryland, the research center. studied US biological weapons programs from 1943 to 1969, and Porton Down, the British chemical weapons research facility.

Major General Tran Vi, an AMMS scientist, has been leading the team of anti-Covid-19 experts in Wuhan since January. China Central Television (CCTV) said Ms. Chen and her colleagues worked shifts around the clock to develop the nCoV vaccine. She has been honored for her role in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake relief efforts and the development of a vaccine during the Ebola pandemic in West Africa from 2014 to 2016.

Major General Tran, 54, has also been widely credited for helping develop a nasal spray that keeps 10,000 health workers fighting SARS from becoming infected with the virus.

Chief of the Military Police Department Chen Jingyuan said the nasal sprays have not been mass produced, but military personnel in Wuhan use them and no one is infected with nCoV.

In September 2016, CMC established the Coalition Logistics Support Force in Wuhan, after President Xi's military restructuring campaign.

"The Logistics Support Force in Wuhan plays an important role in coordinating medical resources and supplies for military medical personnel fighting on the front lines," Tong Zhongping, a military expert in Hong Kong, evaluation. "That is why the PLA medical team is able to operate so effectively."

At the Wuhan epidemic, when civilian health workers complained about the lack of protective equipment, PLA logistics officers took responsibility for the distribution of medical supplies and daily necessities. another, according to a military source.

"When PLA logistics forces took over the distribution, the problem was solved by the military's command and control system more efficiently than local hospitals," the source said.

According to PLA Daily, the logistics force based in Wuhan is also responsible for purchasing and transporting supplies for the 11 million isolated people there.

"The reason the PLA took over essential supplies in Wuhan is because military leaders have realized the irrationalities related to local interests, which could drag back the war against Covid-19." , the source said.