The number of people who have died from novel coronavirus in mainland China has risen to 2,345, with a total of 76,288 people infected, the National Health Commission said on Saturday. Over 20,000 have been discharged from hospitals, it added.
"At 04:00 on 21 February, 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) reported 397 new confirmed cases and 109 deaths", the statement said.
The death toll in China's Hubei province reached 2,250, with a total of 63,454 people infected. 106 new deaths and 366 new confirmed cases were registered on Friday, of which 314 cases were in the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the new virus outbreak.
Earlier, China's authorities reported a total of 2,118 fatalities in mainland China, with 74,576 infected. In Hubei province, the death toll stood at 2,029 as of 20 February.
Chinese Vice Minister of Science and Technology Xu Nanping said that the earliest the vaccine for coronavirus would be submitted for clinical trials is late April.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated COVID-19 as the official name of the new virus and declared a global health emergency over the coronavirus outbreak.
