Photo: Xinhua

In the Chinese mainland, the number of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) infection cases reported daily, excluding those in the epicenter Hubei Province,  showed a decline for the 12th consecutive day Saturday, the national health authority said on Sunday.

A total of 2,009 confirmed cases of COVID19 were reported on Saturday in China, with 142 new deaths and 1,323 cases of recovery, according to the data released by China's National Health Commission on Sunday.

The new data showed that the total infection number increased to 68,500 with the death toll rising to 1,665 and the number of recovered patients mounting to 9,419.

A total of 1,323 cured patients were discharged from the hospital on Saturday, showing a fourth day of more than 1,000 new recovery cases, according to the national health authority.

The newly released data showed the newly confirmed cases in Hubei Province declined for 3 consecutive days, dropping from 1,4840 on Wednesday to 1,843 on Saturday.   

Hubei Province saw 1,843 new cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia on Saturday, including 888 clinically diagnosed cases, with 139 new deaths and 849 cases of recovery, its health authority reported on Sunday.

The total number of infections in the province reached 56,249, as of 24:00 Saturday, with 1,596 deaths and 5,623 cases of recovery. 

Hubei reported 1,036 new suspected cases, including 391 from Wuhan, making the total suspected cases in China 5,243 as of Sunday morning.

Hubei Province began to include the number of clinically diagnosed cases in its daily updated report for the first time on Thursday. The move fixed previous loopholes in the epidemic control work and made the admission of patients more convenient, enabling them to get timely treatment, experts said.

A total of 217 medical teams with 25,633 medical personnel had been dispatched to Hubei, along with those sent by the military as of Friday midnight.

Global Times