LIMA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian doctors have consulted a visiting team of medical experts from China about their experiences in and knowledge on treating patients with the novel coronavirus. During the encounter in the city of Arequipa on Wednesday, the team of four Chinese medical experts met with the regional governor, Elmer Caceres, as well as Health Ministry officials and representatives of local hospitals. To effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic, China relied on three basic principles, which are diagnosis, isolation of the patient and treatment, said Guo Yi, deputy director of the Nanfang Hospital's medical department. "You have to stop transmission at the source" and testing is the key, said Guo. "The best way to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus is to make an early diagnosis of COVID-19 and put the patient in mandatory quarantine," added Guo. The Chinese experts toured Honorio Delgado Espinoza Hospital, which is now dubbed the COVID-19 Hospital, as it has become the regional treatment center. The other members of the Chinese delegation are head of the pulmonology department Liu Laiyu, deputy director of the infectious diseases department Zhou Hao, and deputy director of the neurology department's intensive care unit Wu Yongming. Peru is one of Latin America's hardest hit countries, with 183,198 COVID-19 cases and 5,031 deaths as of Thursday. The delegation arrived for a visit of approximately 10 days on May 23, at the invitation of the Peruvian government to help the country curb its outbreak.