XINING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Authorities are using Tibetan medicine to help fight the coronavirus in northwest China's Qinghai Province.

File photo: CGTN

Of Qinghai's 18 confirmed cases, 17 have received treatment involving traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and Tibetan medicine has played an active role in the treatment, said Huang Licheng, an official with the provincial health commission.

Qinghai has incorporated western medicine and TCM to treat patients since the virus outbreak. TCM doctors heavily participated in rescue work, especially those practicing Tibetan medicine.

The provincial hospital of Tibetan medicine produced a batch of anti-virus medications featuring Tibetan medicine, with 1,000 of them already sent to the front lines in Hubei Province, the center of the virus outbreak. The rest will go to medical institutions in Qinghai.

Local Tibetan medicine hospitals have also produced medications to prevent virus infection and distributed them to the public for free.