WUHAN — The government of Hubei awarded two prominent doctors for championing fight against the novel coronavirus, it said on Feb 6.

Zhang Dingyu, one of the two awarded doctors, is president of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, one of the major hospitals to treat patients infected with the virus. Zhang, 56, suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

He has put himself in positions with urgent and difficult tasks and has not relaxed in the battle against the virus, said a decision jointly issued by Hubei provincial department of human resources and social security, along with the provincial health commission.

Another awardee is Zhang Jixian, a 54-year-old female doctor and head of respiratory department of Hubei provincial hospital of integrated traditional Chinese and Western Medicine.

"With extremely acute professional awareness, Zhang was the first person to make the diagnosis and insist on reporting the epidemic. She was the first to sound the alarm for the prevention work of the virus," according to the decision.

Both doctors are excellent representatives of medical workers who are fighting the battle against the virus. By awarding the two doctors, the government has encouraged people to learn from them and win the war against the virus.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 28,018 by the end of Feb 5, said China's National Health Commission. A total of 563 people had died of the disease.