Zhou Qiong, a doctor at Union Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

37 patients including one aged 88, in central China's Hubei Province, have recovered and been discharged on Sunday afternoon.

BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese provinces and municipalities reported Sunday that more patients infected with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) have recovered and left hospitals.

A total of 37 patients including one aged 88 who had been infected with the virus in central China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the epidemic, have recovered and been discharged from Jinyintan Hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Northwest China's Gansu Province also reported its first batch of two patients recovering from the novel coronavirus Sunday.

Meanwhile, a 57-year-old patient was also cured and discharged from hospital on Sunday after 17 days of treatment in southwest China's Sichuan Province. He is the province's first patient who was in severe or critical situations and discharged from hospital after recovery.

China's Tianjin Municipality also reported its first patient recovering from the virus on Sunday.

Patients can be discharged when the symptoms are alleviated, the body temperature remains at a normal range for at least three days, and the nucleic acid test shows a negative result twice, according to China's National Health Commission.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 14,380 by the end of Saturday. ■