MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. A plane of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry landed in China early on Sunday to deliver humanitarian cargo of personal protective items and medicines.

"An Il-76 plane of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry arrived in China. It delivered 183 cubic meters of humanitarian cargo - medicines and personal protective equipment," the ministry’s press service said.

The Ilyushin Il-76 plane of the Russian Emergencies Ministry with a batch of humanitarian aid on board took off from Zhukovsky International Airport near Moscow at 13.33 local time on Saturday.

Assistance to China is provided on instructions from Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov earlier said that Russia would send 2 million medical face masks to China as humanitarian aid. The total weight of the cargo will be 23 tonnes.

On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities reported to the World Health Organization about an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, an economic and industrial metropolis with a population of 11 million. The virus - 2019-nCoV - was identified on January 7, 2020. Apart from China, 24 other countries, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases. The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations.

According to the latest data, the total number of coronavirus cases in China has exceeded 37,100, a total of 811 people have died, some 2,600 have recovered.

Outside China, 288 coronavirus cases have so far been reported in 24 countries, with 1 death.