BEIJING — China has opened 11 dedicated hotlines and seven online platforms offering 24-hour mental counseling services to medical workers fighting on the front lines against the novel coronavirus epidemic, a senior official with the National Health Commission said on Feb 14.

"We put the mental health of medical workers on the battlefront at the top of our agenda, and have come up with targeted psychological intervention measures for possible mental problems," Zeng Yixin, vice-minister of the commission, told reporters at a news conference in Beijing.

Besides, a total of 448 free hotlines are now available to individuals seeking help for psychological issues during the virus outbreak, Zeng said.

The commission has also published three handbooks to popularize knowledge on how to handle virus-related mental issues among medical workers and the general public, according to Zeng.