Image Source: TRIBUNE

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday ordered the military to "shoulder responsibility" to contain the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 132 people, infected 6,000 others with six foreigners contracting the disease for the first time in China and spread to 17 countries.

President Xi, who heads the People's Liberation Army, told the military to keep their mission firmly in mind and shoulder responsibility to make a contribution to winning the battle against the novel coronavirus, which he has described as a "demon", state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Already the military is pressing thousands of its medical personnel into Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, to assist the doctors. Xi's call to the military came as the number of confirmed cases of the rapidly spreading virus infection in mainland China reached 6,078 with 70 cases abroad, surpassing the cases witnessed during the SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, which had caused havoc in China in 2002-03. Over 800 people, mostly in China, died during the SARS epidemic.