Mainland China, excluding Hubei, reports lowest new daily infections

Mainland China -- excluding Hubei province where the new coronavirus outbreak originated in the country -- reported just four new cases of infection on Friday, the lowest since the national health authority started compiling nationwide data in January.

The central province of Hubei reported 423 new confirmed cases on Friday, the National Health Commission said on Saturday, up from 318 a day earlier. That pushed the overall number of new infections on Friday in mainland China to 427, data from the health authority showed.

Of the new cases in Hubei, 420 were reported in the provincial capital of Wuhan, the city hardest-hit by the outbreak. The new infections on Friday bring the total accumulated number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 79,251.

The death toll from the outbreak China had reached 2,835 as of the end of Friday, up by 47 from the previous day. Hubei reported 45 new deaths, while in Wuhan, 37 people died.