Medical workers wearing protective clothing check passengers' travel history at the Shanghai South railway station in Shanghai on Feb 9, 2020. (NOEL CELIS / AFP)

WUHAN/BEIJING - China's new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia outside Hubei province, where the epicenter city of Wuhan is located, has been dropping for five consecutive days, according to the National Health Commission (NHC).

The National Health Commission received reports of 2,656 new confirmed cases and 89 deaths on Feb 8, 2020

A total of 509 new confirmed cases were reported on Saturday outside Hubei, about 42.8 percent lower than the number reported on Monday, said Mi Feng, spokesperson of the NHC.

The numbers of new confirmed cases in these provinces during the past days were 890 (February 3), 731 (February 4), 707 (February 5), 696 (February 6) and 558 (February 7).

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"It shows that the joint prevention and control mechanism incorporating different regions in the country as well as strict management are taking effect," Mi said.

The commission received reports of 2,656 new confirmed cases and 89 deaths on February 8, 2020, from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Authorities will use two days to finish testing all suspected cases of novel coronavirus infection in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in central China's Hubei Province, according to Jiang Chaoliang, Party chief of Hubei.

Wuhan must conduct comprehensive examinations across the city to contain the spread of the virus, according to the Hubei provincial committee of the Communist Party of China.

The committee said that finishing the tests of suspected cases will help release more medical resources for patients confirmed with infections.

Chinese health authorities have dispatched a total of 11,921 medical personnels from across the country to Hubei Province to aid the fight against the novel coronavirus pneumonia, according to the National Health Commission (NHC) on Sunday. 

Authorities on February 9, 2020, started to disinfect Wuhan twice a day to beef up efforts in containing the outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus.

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The disinfection takes place at about 10:00 am and 4:00 pm every day in key areas such as medical institutions, quarantined venues, houses of confirmed cases and close contacts, communities, supermarkets, hotels, markets and public restrooms, as well as garbage transfer sites, according to Wuhan's city health commission.

The commission said different criteria should be applied according to specific venues, and health authorities will conduct selective examinations.