President Xi Jinping directs military 'to shoulder responsibility' as authorities shore up efforts to contain virus

China has allocated nearly $4 billion to contain the outbreak of coronavirus that has so far killed at least 170 people worldwide, media reports said on Thursday.

As many as 4,895 medical workers and 44 chartered airplanes loaded with aid supplies, authorities in Beijing said, have so far reached Wuhan, Hubei province -- the epicenter of the virus -- to respond to the epidemic.

Hubei’s governor had complained of a severe shortage of the items necessary to fight the disease.

"The first thing I want to do when I wake up every morning is to figure out how to get disposable protective clothing,” Chinese news channel CGTN quoted him as saying. “There's a severe shortage of medical supplies, not just in Wuhan but in surrounding cities as well."

Besides fatalities, the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus -- said to have transmitted to humans from bats -- has risen to over 7,000.

While the infection has spread across China, new cases continue to emerge around the world despite unprecedented quarantines and travel lockdowns.

According to Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency, China allocated 27.3 billion yuan ($3.94 billion) to fight the virus.

"More efforts are required to improve fiscal and taxation measures for coronavirus prevention and control in a timely manner," the country's finance ministry said.

Meanwhile, the Jack Ma Foundation, a charity owned by Alibaba founder and China's richest man, has donated 100 million yuan ($14.4 million) to aid research and development of a vaccine for the virus.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Xinhua reported, has also directed the country's military to “shoulder responsibility and make contributions to winning the battle against the novel coronavirus epidemic.”

“The armed forces rapidly initiated the joint prevention and control mechanism and sent elite medical teams to combat the epidemic on the frontline [in Wuhan],” the report said.

Meanwhile, China’s air authorities have allowed residents of Wuhan who live elsewhere to fly home, the South China Morning Post reported.

Taiwan had also requested Beijing that people from the “breakaway” province trapped in Wuhan be allowed to return home on charter flights. Beijing, however, has yet to respond to the request.