BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients has surpassed that of new confirmed infections for a second consecutive day, according to the National Health Commission Thursday.

Wednesday saw 1,779 people walk out of hospital after recovery, much higher than the number of the same day's new confirmed infections, which was 394, showed figures from the commission.

A total of 16,155 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Wednesday, according to the commission.

Wednesday's number of new infections reported from China's 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps was 394, sharply down from 1,749 on Tuesday.

The daily number of new cases has fallen for three consecutive days since Monday when it dropped to 1,886, for the first time under 2,000 since Jan. 31.

Hubei, the epicenter province of the outbreak, reported 349 new cases on Wednesday, sharply down from 1,693 of a day earlier.

China's daily number of new infections outside Hubei has dropped for 16 consecutive days. A total of 45 new confirmed cases were reported outside Hubei Wednesday, down from 890 on Feb. 3, according to the commission.