Hubei, epicentre of China's coronavirus outbreak, reports sharp drop in new cases

China's central Hubei province, the epicenter of the country's coronavirus outbreak, reported less than 200 cases of new infections for the first time since January.

Hubei had 196 new confirmed cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said on Monday, sharply down from 570 cases a day earlier and the lowest since Jan. 24. The decline was driven by a decline in new cases in the provincial capital of Wuhan, which reported 193 new infections, the lowest since Jan. 26.

Overall, mainland China had 202 new confirmed cases, the lowest since Jan. 22. Excluding the new infections in Hubei, there were only six new cases in mainland China, the lowest since last month.

That brings the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 80,026. The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China reached 2,912 as of the end of Sunday, up by 42 from the previous day.

Hubei accounted for all of the 42 new deaths, while 32 people died in Wuhan.