BEIJING — The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, the Central China city hardest hit by the epidemic, has dropped to zero, a health official said on April 26.

The result was achieved with the hard efforts of medical workers in Wuhan and those who were dispatched to assist Wuhan in the fight against the virus from across the country, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson for China's National Health Commission, at a press conference in Beijing.

The last patient in serious condition in Wuhan was cured on April 24, reducing the number of such patients in the city to zero.

In Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, the number of existing COVID-19 cases has dropped below 50 for the first time. No new confirmed cases of the disease have been reported for over 20 days in the province.

China had reported a total of 82,827 confirmed cases on the mainland by April 25, of which 801 patients were still being treated and 77,394 people had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.