Photo grab from Xinhua video shows the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. The first case of novel coronavirus infection was identified in Wuhan. (Xinhua)

 
President Xi Jinping has ordered resolute efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus that caused cases of pneumonia.

Instructing on the work related to the pneumonia situation, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed putting people's safety and health as the top priority.

As of 6 p.m. Monday, a total of 224 cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been reported in China. Of them, 217 had been confirmed and 7 remained suspected.

Overseas, one case has been confirmed in Japan, two in Thailand, and one in the Republic of Korea.