Medical staff in protective clothing carry a patient suspected of having the virus from an apartment in Wuhan city,  Hubei province (Photo: AFP)

The Hubei provincial Health Commission said the number of new cases was nearly 15,000, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the province to more than 48,200. The province had a total of 1,310 deaths as of Wednesday. According to the Commission’s website, new clinical methods of diagnosis was introduced on Thursday.

As of Thursday, the total number of Covid-19 cases worldwide surpassed 60,000, of which there were nearly 59,500 were in mainland China.

The Communist Party of China said Wednesday that it is working to minimize the spread of Covid-19 and its negative impact on China's economy.