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WUHAN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Hubei Province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reported 74 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection, down 52 from Thursday, and 28 deaths on Friday, the National Health Commission said Saturday.

The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 67,666 and that of total deaths to 2,959.

Wuhan, the provincial capital, reported 74 confirmed cases and 21 deaths on Friday. In total, the city has registered 49,871 confirmed cases and 2,349 deaths.

Hubei reported no new confirmed cases outside Wuhan on Friday.

The province also saw 1,502 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on Friday, bringing the total number of discharged patients in the province to 43,468.

Among the 18,518 hospitalized patients, 4,395 were still in severe condition and another 964 in critical condition.

The commission also said Hubei had 301 suspected cases, after 31 suspected cases were ruled out while 47 new suspected cases were reported on Friday.