Patients consult medical workers at Tongji Hospital affiliated with the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province. (Photo: China Daily)

China will set up a national medical center for major public health events at a hospital in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province to lift the country's capability to handle new infectious diseases and improve the epidemic control mechanism.

The center, to be set up at Tongji Hospital affiliated with the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, will carry out research on epidemic control and management models that can help better handle major public health events like the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the hospital.