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Ling Feng, a disease control expert born in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, leaves for Milan, Italy to help the country fight against novel coronavirus pneumonia on March 18. [Photo/cnjxol.com]

Ling Feng, a disease control expert born in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, left for Milan, Italy along with 11 other medical experts from Zhejiang to help the country in the fight against novel coronavirus pneumonia on March 18, local media reported.

This is the third time that Ling has offered assistance to foreign countries on behalf of China. The first time was when he participated in rescue efforts after a super typhoon in the Philippines in 2013, and the second was when he helped West Africa fight against the Ebola virus in 2014.

According to Ling, there are two main reasons for their trip to Italy; the first is to offer their expertise in treating NCP to local medical workers and advise them on how to prevent, control, and treat the illness; the second is to offer medical services and assistance to local Chinese ambassadors, consuls, staff members of Chinese-funded companies, overseas Chinese students, and overseas Chinese.

Along with the medical group, medical supplies donated by the Zhejiang government were also transported to Italy, including 30 sets of ICU equipment (breathing machines, monitors, and two-path infusion pumps), two portable color doppler ultrasound instruments, 60,000 laboratory reagents, and nine tons of protective medical supplies and commonly used drugs.

The medical team is among the first to be dispatched by the Chinese government to Italy.

The team consists of 12 experts in critical care medicine, respiratory medicine, infectious diseases, traditional Chinese medicine, and laboratory medicine from the First Affiliated Hospital of the College of Medicine of Zhejiang University, the Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, the Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province.

The latest report by the World Health Organization showed that as of March 19, 160,921 confirmed cases (including 14,291 new cases), 6,553 deaths (516 new deaths), and 16,515 recoveries (including 1,127 new recoveries) had been reported outside the Chinese mainland.

As of March 19, Italy had reported 41,035 confirmed cases (including 5,322 new cases), 3,405 deaths (including 424 new deaths), and 4,440 recoveries (including 415 new recoveries).