A Chinese doctor has died of a sudden cardiac arrest after fighting the new coronavirus on the front line for 10 days in a row.

Song Yingjie, 27, was a team leader at a local clinic in Hunan Province, which borders the epicentre of the outbreak Hubei, according to the local authority.

He was in charge of giving temperature checks to drivers and passengers on a motorway and had worked non-stop since January 25, officials said.

The news came as doctors nationwide were hailed as heroes for working day and night to tackle the epidemic, which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has killed at least 493.

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