To cooperate in a novel coronavirus research project, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation made a donation on Friday to the Third People's Hospital in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, which is a national infectious disease research hub.

Led by Professor Liu Lei at the hospital, the research project will analyze the clinical epidemiology of the virus, including its features, infected people's clinical indications and the clinical laboratory to evaluate new treatment technology.

On Feb 19, the two sides signed a cooperation agreement. The hospital received the funds, the amount of which was not disclosed, from the foundation eight days later.

Apart from funding support, the foundation will contact medical experts around the world to seek their professional guidance to promote the project's development.

The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen is designated as the only hospital in the city to treat infected patients. To date, the number of hospitalized patients is the most among all designated hospitals in China outside Central China's Hubei province, the outbreak's epicenter.

As of Sunday, Shenzhen reported 418 confirmed cases, all of which had received treatment in the hospital. Some 320 patients have recovered after treatment and have been discharged from the hospital.