BEIJING — The effect of medical treatment against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is obvious and the pressure on treatment is gradually decreasing, said a Chinese health official on Feb 20, citing epidemic data in China over the past few days.

China's daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients has surpassed that of new confirmed infections for a second consecutive day, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, at a press conference.

The country's number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases outside Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, has dropped for 16 consecutive days, Mi told reporters.

A total of 45 new confirmed cases were reported on Feb 19 outside Hubei, down from 890 on Feb 3, showed figures from the commission.

The number of newly confirmed cases in each provincial-level region outside of Hubei was below 10 on Feb 19 with some of the regions reporting no newly confirmed cases. Meanwhile, the number of new deaths reported has remained at a relatively low level, he added.