WUHAN — Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan on March 19 urged all-out efforts to treat every patient infected with the novel coronavirus.

Leading a central government group to oversee the epidemic control work in Hubei province, Sun made the remarks while inspecting Tongji Hospital located in the provincial capital city of Wuhan, the hardest-hit city in China.

During her visit, Sun spoke with doctors and nurses of local hospitals via a video link, noting that they are facing even greater challenges to treat patients, in particular those in severe conditions, at the crucial stage.

Sun called for efforts to mobilize more advanced medical resources to rescue the patients and combat the coronavirus, stressing multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment, as well as a combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine.

By March 18, China had seen a total of 70,420 patients discharged from hospital after recovery. Nationwide, 7,263 patients were still being treated, with 2,314 in severe condition. Most of them are in Wuhan.