China's Liaoning, Gansu lower coronavirus response level

LANZHOU/SHENYANG -- The two Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Gansu have lowered their emergency response from first-level to third-level after having reported no new coronavirus case.

The northwestern province of Gansu switched to the third-level response Friday after reporting no new cases for the fourth day in a row. The province has so far registered 91 confirmed cases and two deaths.

Liaoning lowered the response level Saturday morning, the fifth day without reports of new cases. The northeastern province has reported 121 confirmed cases and one death.

The two provinces now place their cities and counties in three risk groups that correspond to different epidemic prevention measures.

Since late January, all provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland have activated top-level emergency responses to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), canceling mass events, closing scenic attractions and suspending long-distance buses.

The National Health Commission (NHC) said Friday that the epidemic has shown a positive trend on the Chinese mainland, indicating that the outbreak is under control.

Figures including new confirmed cases across the country, new confirmed cases outside Hubei province, and new confirmed cases in Wuhan, epicenter of the outbreak, as well as in other places of Hubei, have all been dropping gradually, said Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the NHC, at a press conference.

The daily number of new confirmed cases nationwide dropped from the peak of 15,152 on Feb 12 to less than 900 on Thursday, he said. The number of new confirmed cases outside Hubei was 258 on Thursday, down from the peak of 890 on Feb 3.

The total number of suspected cases has also dropped nationwide. The number of newly reported suspected cases outside Hubei had dropped from the peak of 2,211 on Feb 6 to Thursday's 335.

In addition, no new confirmed cases were reported as of Thursday in 14 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Tibet autonomous region in Southwest China has reported zero new confirmed cases since Jan 30 and Qinghai province in the northwest has reported no new cases in more than two weeks.