BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province and the northeastern province of Jilin have downgraded their emergency responses towards the coronavirus outbreak.

Xinjiang and Jilin have lowered their local emergency responses from level I to level II from Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

The emergency response has turned to level III from level I starting Wednesday in Qinghai after reporting no new cases.

Since Feb. 21, provincial-level regions including Gansu, Liaoning, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangxi and Sichuan have lowered their emergency response levels.

According to the National Health Commission, China's daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19 outside Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, dropped to five on Tuesday, and the country's daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients has surpassed that of new infections for the eighth consecutive day.

All provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland  activated top-level emergency responses to the novel coronavirus in late January, canceling mass events, closing scenic attractions and suspending long-distance buses.  ■