Latest developments in epidemic control on Feb 27 (2)

China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Here are the latest developments:

— Chinese health authority said on Feb 27 it received reports of 433 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 29 deaths on Feb 26 from 31 provincial-level regions on the mainland, bringing overall confirmed cases to 78,497 and total deaths to 2,744.

— Hubei province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak in China, reported 409 new confirmed cases of infection and 26 new deaths on Feb 26, the provincial health commission said on Feb 27.

— Feb 26 saw 2,750 people on the mainland walk out of hospital after recovery, much higher than the new confirmed infections. The daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients on the Chinese mainland has surpassed that of new infections for the ninth consecutive day, the National Health Commission said on Feb 27.

— A total of 16 provincial-level regions in China — Gansu, Liaoning, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Anhui, Hainan, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Jilin have lowered their emergency response levels to the novel coronavirus as of Feb 26.

— By the end of Feb 26, 91 confirmed cases including two deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 32 in Taiwan including one death.

Twenty-four patients in Hong Kong, seven in Macao and five in Taiwan had been discharged from hospital after recovery.