Over 10,000 medical students in Gansu province applied to volunteer in epidemic control overnight after a call was sent out by four universities and college with medicine majors to fight COVID-19 cases in the northwestern province of China.

Within 5 hours, 500 people signed up on a WeChat group looking for volunteers, and the applicants kept coming, according to a teacher with the Party committee of Lanzhou University.

"Please post me for night shift if possible, as I was a soldier and can handle such duties," read a message from a student in the WeChat group.

The first volunteer medical team of 350 students from the university joined the fight against the epidemic on Friday morning after an overnight training.

Similar scenes were also seen in the Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Northwest Minzu University and Gansu Health Vocational College.

"As a medical student, I've been determined to dedicate my life to medicine and the healthcare development of China since I put on the white uniform. I believe Lanzhou will put the epidemic under control," said Ma Mengjie, a volunteer from Northwest Minzu University.

A total of 44,000 young volunteers have been recruited in the province's fight against the epidemic besides the medical students, according to the Gansu provincial committee of the Communist Youth League.

Gansu recorded 41 locally transmitted confirmed cases by Saturday since a new wave of COVID-19 infections began hitting various regions in China.