Wuhan continues decline in new infections

Hubei provincial capital Wuhan, epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, has seen its daily increase of new infections decline for seven consecutive days and the rest of the province has reported no additional cases six days in a row, daily data shows.

Most additional cases reported from regions outside Hubei on the Chinese mainland have been imported ones since March 4, according to the National Health Commission.

The number of infections on Chinese mainland rose by 24 over the course of Tuesday to 80,778, the commission said.

With 22 further fatalities, a total of 3,158 people have succumbed to the virus, as data released by the commission on Wednesday morning shows.

Eleven of the new cases were reported from regions outside Hubei, and all but one of them were imported. To date, 79 imported cases have been counted.

All additional fatalities occurred in Hubei.

Another 1,578 people were discharged from hospitals over the course of Tuesday, bringing the number of recovered Chinese mainland patients up to 61,475, the commission said.

With a daily reduction of 302 patients exhibiting serious symptoms, the number of such patients now stands at 4,492. In total, 16,145 patients are still hospitalized.

There are now 285 suspected infections on the Chinese mainland, 31 of them counted on Tuesday.

Among the 675,886 people who have so far been traced for their close contact with infected patients, 14,607 are still under medical observation.

In Hubei, another 13 cases were counted over the course of Tuesday for a total of 67,773 in the province. To date, the disease has claimed 3,046 lives in the province as of Tuesday at midnight, the commission said.

Wuhan reported all newly confirmed cases and the bulk of the fatalities.

The total number of confirmed cases in Wuhan now stands at 49,978. With 19 further deaths, the number of fatalities in the city has reached 2,423.

The Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan province have reported a total of 177 confirmed cases, including three deaths in Hong Kong and one death in Taiwan, the commission noted.

In all these regions, 92 patients have been discharged from hospitals.