A positive trend is shown in curbing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic on the Chinese mainland as 28 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps each reported less than 10 new cases on Thursday. Some regions even registered zero new cases, an official from the National Health Commission (NHC) said a press conference on Friday.

NHC spokesperson Mi Feng noted that the number of those recovered in Wuhan City, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, on Thursday first surpassed that of new confirmed cases: 766 versus 319.

Mi also said that the recovery rate has kept going up nationwide for nearly a week as the figure of those recovered on the Chinese mainland hit over 2,000 in a single day for the first time on February 20.