BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients in Wuhan, the capital city of China's Hubei Province and the epicenter of the outbreak, has surpassed that of new confirmed infections for the first time, said a Chinese health official Friday.

File photo: CGTN

"China's number of newly cured and discharged patients in a single day exceeded 2,000 for the first time on Thursday," said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, at a press conference, adding that the cure rates in Wuhan, other parts of Hubei and other provincial-level regions in the country have continued to rise in the past week.

The country will make all-out efforts on treatment for severe and critical cases of the COVID-19 patients and reducing the mortality rate, he noted.

Meanwhile, health authorities will optimize related diagnosis and treatment plan, combine traditional Chinese and Western medicine in treatment, strengthen the treatment and management of mild cases and continuously improve the cure rate of COVID-19, Mi told reporters.