A medical worker passes by a van delivering takeaways at a hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 31, 2020.

Fifty-three enterprises released an initiative on Saturday to offer medical- and research-related assistances to help curb the ongoing novel coronavirus onslaught, with integrated professional resources and research capability.

As China is going all-out to combat the coronavirus epidemic, the firms plan to suspend some of their routine scientific research work and business operations to release dozens of labs to offer research support to the fight against the spreading virus, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by one of the initiators, China’s genome sequencing company BGI Group.

In addition to the research labs, nearly 100 research instruments, many scientific personnel and over 10 million yuan ($1.44 million) were offered to the fight against the epidemic, said the statement.

The donation covers 18 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Beijing, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, South China's Guangdong Province and Central China’s Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak. 

The battle against the epidemic has now entered a critical phase, and medical equipment, supplies, and personnel are the key forces to win the battle, the statement said. Since it will take time to produce the new supplies, it is important to integrate current resources and put them into the battle effectively. It is the first batch of firms to conduct joint action amid the epidemic, media reports said. 

Apart from the bio-tech firms including BGI Group and Beijing-based Geneplus Technology, the 53 firms include capital management companies and charity organizations, such as Shenzhen-based Green Pine Capital Partners, said the BGI statement.

Even before the new initiative, the firms have been offering supplies and donations since the novel coronavirus breakout. BGI Group has produced and supplied diagnostic kits for over 100,000 patients, according to the company.

Global Times