A 40 million yuan ($5.77 million) donation from dairy giant Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd to the Red Cross Society of China -- to tackle the novel coronavirus outbreak in Hohhot -- was officially allocated to the No 2 Hospital of Hohhot and Hohhot Center of Disease Control on March 3, local official said. 

They said the funds from Yili Group will be used to purchase medical supplies and equipment to protect front-line medical workers in the capital of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. 

In response to the epidemic, Yili launched a prevention and control plan and decided to invest 100 million yuan to fight the coronavirus. 

A total of 60 million yuan was donated to the Red Cross Society of China to support the development of epidemic prevention and control work in the region and in its capital. 

Officials said it will be used for purchase of medical equipment and the expansion of the scale of medical operations against the virus. 

As a leading enterprise in the Chinese dairy industry, Yili has actively donated money and materials since the outbreak. 

Officials said to date, it has delivered some 1.5 million cartons of products to hospitals, disease control centers, and clinics.

They have also gone to isolated observation points and public security traffic police departments in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across China.