"The number of people testing positive for the new coronavirus increased by more than 1,000 over the past 24 hours, reaching 5,823," he said. 

"1,699 patients infected by the coronavirus have so far discharged form hospital after being cured," he added.

The death toll from the outbreak has reaches to 3,497, with 102,242 infected people in 97 countries across the world.

The virus was first detected in Wuhan city, Central China, in December 2019. It is believed to have originated from wild animals, passing to humans due to the wildlife trade and wet markets. The virus spread to other China provinces in early and mid-January 2020, helped by the Chinese new year migration.

On 30 January 2020, following confirmation of human-to-human transmission outside China and the increase in number of cases in other countries, the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the sixth PHEIC since the measure was first invoked during the 2009 swine flu pandemic. (ILKHA)