WUHAN — China's Hubei province, the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak, announced on Feb 16 a slew of wide-ranging and more stringent measures to prevent and control the epidemic.

The measures include enforcing province-wide traffic restrictions on all non-emergency vehicles and closing all non-essential public venues, according to a circular issued by the provincial government.

The measures came as the province is at a "critical stage" to prevent and control the epidemic and the situation remains "grave", said the circular.

By the end of Feb 15, the hard-hit province had reported a total of 56,249 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection. Among the 39,447 hospitalized patients, 8,439 were still in severe condition and another 1,957 in critical condition.