BEIJING — China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Here are the latest developments:

— Chinese developers are working on the research and development of a robot that can replace nurses in conducting throat testing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.

— Seven patients confirmed to have been infected by the novel coronavirus, including two critical patients and a pregnant woman, were discharged on Feb 5 from a hospital in East China's Zhejiang province after recovering.

— Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, asked all residential communities, villages and enterprises to be managed in a closed way, denying the entry of external personnel and vehicles.

— Beijing has so far adopted 179 thermal monitors in 35 subway stations to check the temperature of all passengers at entrances.

— All schools in Shanghai are required to delay the opening of the 2020 spring semester until the end of February. The resumption date will be confirmed later in accordance with the development of the fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic.

— Wuhan in Central China's Hubei province plans to convert another eight existing venues, including gymnasiums, exhibition centers and sports centers, into hospitals to receive patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

— More medical teams are rushing to Hubei Province to aid novel coronavirus control. A team of 138 medical workers from hospitals in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region flew to Hubei on Feb 4 to join the fight against the epidemic.

— Southwest China's Chongqing municipality has rolled out 20 measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises affected by coronavirus outbreak by reducing their burdens on loans, rent and social security payments.

— The number of new suspected cases of the novel coronavirus infection on the Chinese mainland dropped for the second consecutive day on Feb 4.

— A total of 892 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Feb 4.