As of 20 February, 115 new deaths and 411 new cases of coronavirus were registered in the province, where the new virus originated last December.

The number of people who have died from novel coronavirus in mainland China has reached 2,236, a total of 75,465 people have been infected, and 18,264 have been discharged from hospitals, the Chinese health authorities said on Friday.

"At 04:00 on 20 February, 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) reported 889 new confirmed cases and 118 new deaths", the statement said.

In Hubei province, the death toll rose to 2,144, the regional health committee said. A total of 62,422 have been infected and 11,788 patients have recovered, it added.

There were 115 new deaths in the province, of which 99 were registered in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

"As of 24:00 on 20 February 2020, Hubei Province reported a total of 62,422 confirmed cases of new coronavirus pneumonia, including 45,346 cases in Wuhan. A total of 11,788 patients were discharged from hospitals. 63,126 people are still under medical observation", the statement said.

Earlier, the Chinese health authorities reported a total of 2,118 fatalities in mainland China, with more than 74,500 people infected with the virus.

An outbreak of pneumonia caused by a new strain of coronavirus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, and since then it has been registered in more than 25 countries around the globe.

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 outbreak.