The number of new confirmed cases of the COVID-19 on the Chinese mainland, excluding Hubei Province, has dropped to nine, marking single-digit levels for the first time, according to the National Health Commission (NHC).

A total of 508 new cases of the COVID-19 were confirmed on the Chinese mainland as of midnight on Monday and 71 more deaths were reported, said the NHC.

Central China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, reported 499 new cases on Monday, bringing the total number in the province to 64,786.

As of February 23, China confirmed 11 new cases of the COVID-19 outside Hubei Province.

So far, the total number of the confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland stands at 77,658 and the cumulative death toll is 2,663.

On Monday, 2,589 new patients were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 27,323.

The numbers of confirmed cases in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and China's Taiwan region are as follows:

Hong Kong: 81 (2 dead, 19 recovered)

Macao: 10 (6 recovered)

Taiwan: 30 (1 dead, 5 recovered)