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

— Four passengers have recently tested negative for the coronavirus, after they developed fever on plane from the Republic of Korea to the city of Yanji in Northeast China's Jilin province.

The passengers are currently receiving isolated treatment.

— A doctor died on Feb 23 in the city of Xiaogan in Central China's Hubei province.

Huang Wenjun, 42, died in the Central Hospital of Xiaogan after medical efforts failed. Doctors confirmed Huang's infection in late January.

— Shanghai's Pudong New Area has introduced a series of supportive policies, including rent reduction and exemption to help companies resume production and reduce the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, according to local authorities.

So far, 66 percent of industrial enterprises above designated size in the Pudong New Area have resumed work, said Guan Xiaojun, deputy head of Pudong New Area, at a news conference on Feb 24.

— South China's economic powerhouse Guangdong province has launched the country's most speedy mask production line to bolster the national fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The factory in Guangzhou, with a capacity of assembling 1,000 medical masks per minute, and 1.2 million per day, is also believed to be among the fastest in the world, said officials with Guangzhou Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau.

— No new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported on Feb 23 in 24 provincial-level regions of China, according to local health authorities on Feb 24.

— Chinese health authorities have issued a trial guideline on the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the rehabilitation from COVID-19.

— Huanggang, a coronavirus-hit city in Hubei province, has launched a telemedicine platform for 14 designated hospitals for fighting the COVID-19 to seek intelligence support from top hospitals.

— Southwest China's Yunnan province has punished several officials over a case of intercepting a batch of masks amid the fight of the novel coronavirus earlier this month, local disciplinary authorities said on Feb 24.

— Chinese health authority said on Feb 24 it received reports of 409 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 150 deaths on Feb 23 from 31 provincial-level regions on the mainland.

Among the deaths, 149 were in Hubei province and one in Hainan province, according to the National Health Commission.

Another 620 new suspected cases were reported Sunday, and the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 77,150 by the end of Feb 23, and 2,592 people had died of the disease.

— China's daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients has surpassed that of new confirmed infections for the sixth consecutive day.

Feb 23 saw 1,846 people walk out of hospital after recovery, much higher than the number of the same day's new confirmed infections, which was 409.
A total of 24,734 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Feb 23.

— The China-World Health Organization joint expert team visited Hubei province over the weekend to conduct field investigations.

— Chinese lawmakers on Feb 24 started deliberating a draft decision thoroughly banning illegal wildlife trade and eliminating the bad habits of eating wild animals to safeguard people's lives and health.

— The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, said on Feb 24 it will release more targeted tax and fee cuts to aid micro, small and medium-sized businesses in tiding over difficulties amid the epidemic.