Aerial photo taken on Feb. 21, 2020 shows cruise ship "Lanjing" ashoring at Wangjiaxiang Passenger Terminal in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. The first cruise ship "Lanjing" to support Wuhan arrived Friday at Wuhan Wangjiaxiang Passenger Terminal. The cruise ship will be used as a floating hotel for medical staff in the frontline of anti-epidemic. Seven cruise ships on Yangtze River have been enlisted as floating hotels for medical staff battling against the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, in the central China city of Wuhan, the center of the epidemic outbreak. (Xinhua/Li He)

WUHAN, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Seven cruise ships on Yangtze River have been enlisted as "water hotels" for medical staff battling against the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, in the central China city of Wuhan, the center of the epidemic outbreak.

The municipal government of Yichang, Hubei Province, said on Friday that under the coordination of the Ministry of Transport, the ships serving for tourism in the Three Gorges scenic area are on the way to Wuhan via a 660-km waterway on the Yangtze River.

Six of the seven cruise ships are registered in Yichang and another is registered in western China's Chongqing Municipality.

The seven cruise ships offer 1,469 beds in total. Each ship is equipped with fire-fighting, water and power supply facilities.

The city of Yichang will also send a multi-functional garbage collection ship to serve for collecting and treating waste and sewage from the seven ships.

The ships are expected to provide safe dining and boarding conditions for medics to keep them refreshed in the battle against the epidemic.

The total confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection in the hard-hit province had reached 62,662. Wuhan, the provincial capital, recorded a total of 45,346 confirmed cases, according to the provincial health commission Friday.