BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic has shown positive trend on the Chinese mainland, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC) said Friday.

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 number of newly recovered patients has been rising rapidly, surpassing that of new confirmed infections for the third consecutive day, Zeng said.

China reported 889 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 118 deaths on Thursday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.  ■