Hundreds of doctors from around China have interrupted their new year celebrations to head to Wuhan and support efforts to tackle the virus outbreak that has hit the city.

The arrival of the new coronavirus has put a strain on local hospitals as thousands of the city's 11 million residents have sought medical advice after developing flu-like symptoms.

Eight hundred cases have been confirmed and the city, along with 10 others, has been placed on lockdown to halt the spread of the disease.

The timing couldn't be worse, coming as China celebrates the Lunar New Year, when families traditionally get together to eat, drink and relax.

But while for most, the outbreak has been a source of inconvenience and disruption, hundreds of medics have been called up at short notice to travel to the quarantine zone and support their colleagues.

A medical team of 135 experts from Guangdong province are among them. They include a group of 24 doctors and nurses from Nanfang Hospital, who had been at the forefront of the battle against the SARs epidemic in 2003.

The group published a letter explaining their motivations, which said: "17 years after the onslaught of SARS, the responsibility of safeguarding our people falls to no others but us. We have the experience, and we are ready to go to the frontline. When duty calls, we will answer it, and answer it with victory.”

China has been widely praised for its reaction to the crisis, including action to halt the spread of the virus and transparency over the scientific data related to it.

Following a mammoth meeting, the World Health Organization decided against declaring the outbreak a global emergency. Although countries around the world are introducing screening at airports to try to restrict the virus's progress.