BEIJING — China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Here are the latest developments:

— China reported 2,048 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 105 deaths on Feb 16 from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Among the deaths, 100 were in Hubei province, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong. Another 1,563 new suspected cases were reported on Feb 16.

— A total of 10,844 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Feb 16.

By the end of Feb 16, a total of 1,770 people had died of the disease and 70,548 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in China.

— China's daily new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection outside Hubei, the epicenter province of the outbreak, have since Feb 3 dropped for 13 consecutive days. A total of 115 new confirmed cases were reported on Feb 16 outside Hubei.

— Hubei province reported 1,933 new confirmed cases and 100 new deaths on Feb 16. The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 58,182. Wuhan, the provincial capital, recorded a total of 41,152 confirmed cases.

— Nearly 4 million workers from China's primary-level medical and health institutions, including both community health service centers in cities and clinics in rural areas, have played an important and unique role in the fight against the coronavirus.

Medical workers at the primary level have engaged in timely detections of fever patients and suspected cases to ensure the implementation of isolation and patient transfer, while they also need to carry out daily diagnosis and treatment for common diseases and the management of chronic diseases.