Members of Chongqing's medical team take a group photo before leaving for Xiaogan city in Hubei province  on Feb 11, to assist the Xiaogan people in the prevention and treatment of the coronavirus outbreak. [Photo/cqrb.cn]

A medical team from the southwestern city of Chongqing on Feb 11 left for Xiaogan city in central Hubei province to assist its people in the prevention and treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia, according to local officials.

Chen Min’er, secretary of the municipal Party committee; Tang Liangzhi, deputy secretary of the municipal Party committee and Zhang Xuan, director of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress, saw off the team on behalf of the people of Chongqing.

The 142 medical staff in the team are from six city-level hospitals in downtown Chongqing and 11 hospitals in seven districts and counties. They mainly specialize in such fields as breathing, infection and intensive care.

With their extensive medical skills and rich experience in epidemic treatment and nursing, the team will work with the city’s first batch of medical teams in Hubei province.

As of Feb 11, a total of 505 medical staff had left Chongqing for Wuhan, Xiaogan, Jingmen and other cities in Hubei.