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

— Chinese health authority on March 3 said it received reports of 125 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 31 deaths on March 2 on the Chinese mainland.

All the deaths were in Hubei province, according to the National Health Commission.

— On March 2, 2,742 people were discharged from hospital after recovery from novel coronavirus infection, while the number of severe cases decreased by 304 to 6,806.

— The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,151 by the end of March 2, including 30,004 patients who were still being treated, 47,204 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 2,943 people who had died of the disease.

— By the end of March 2, 100 confirmed cases including two deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 41 in Taiwan, including one death.

Thirty-six patients in Hong Kong, eight in Macao and 12 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

— "About 80 to 90 percent of the newly confirmed infections in Wuhan were previously suspected cases," said Liang Wannian, head of the Chinese expert panel on outbreak response and disposal.

"These cases are all under our control," Liang said.

Some new infections are also related to close contacts of the confirmed cases. The China-World Health Organization joint expert team said about 1 to 5 percent of close contacts have later been confirmed to have the disease.

— All the passengers and crew members aboard flight CA440 tested negative for the novel coronavirus after their flight landed in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality from Seoul on March 1.

Four people on the flight, with 10 crew members and 79 passengers including 22 from the Republic of Korea, were found to have feverish symptoms during entry quarantine.

The four passengers, all Chongqing citizens, were sent to a designated hospital for treatment. The rest were under medical observation.

Nucleic acid tests were negative for all aboard. Another test will be conducted on the four feverish passengers after 24 hours.