The People's Liberation Army Joint Logistic Support Force has issued a full-scale mobilization order to its members in response to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak across the country.

The force published its first mobilization directive since its establishment in September 2016 on Tuesday, calling on all of its personnel, especially medics, to contribute to the fight against the coronavirus-related pneumonia.

The number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus rose to 24,324 in the Chinese mainland as of Tuesday, including 490 deaths.

Per the directive, all personnel must follow President Xi Jinping's instructions to the military's counter-epidemic endeavors and carry out their tasks, such as curing infected civilians and providing logistics services.

They should be fully prepared and confident in the battle with the highly contagious disease, the unit said, urging members of the Communist Party of China to take the lead in the battle.

Medics are a major force in this fight, and the directive urged them to strive to race to save lives and also make sure there are no infections among themselves.

On Monday, 950 medics from hospitals administered by the PLA Joint Logistic Support Force and another 450 from the PLA's medical universities started running a newly constructed hospital in Hubei province's Wuhan dedicated to the novel coronavirus.

The Huoshenshan Hospital, inside the Wuhan Workers' Sanatorium in Caidian district, received its first group of patients on Tuesday morning.