BEIJING — China's daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients has surpassed that of new confirmed infections for the fifth consecutive day, according to the National Health Commission on Feb 23.

Saturday saw 2,230 people walk out of hospital after recovery, much higher than the number of the same day's new confirmed infections, which was 648, figures from the commission showed.

A total of 22,888 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Feb 22, according to the commission.

Saturday marked the fourth consecutive day that China's daily number of new infections remained under 1,000.

The newly recovered coronavirus patients in both Hubei province and its capital city of Wuhan outnumbered new infections on Feb 22, according to the figures.