BEIJING, February 6. /TASS/. The number of people who contracted the 2019-nCoV novel coronavirus in China topped 28,000 by Thursday, 563 of them died, China’s National Health Commission said.

Earlier on Thursday, the Wangyi news portal reported citing regional authorities that the number of people who contracted the 2019-nCoV novel coronavirus in China rose to 27,400 by Thursday, 563 of them died. A total of 1,135 patients have recovered by Thursday.

According to the commission, more than 186,300 people have been quarantined.

More than 23,000 people have developed symptoms similar to those of the novel coronavirus infection, but have not yet been diagnosed. They were placed under medical supervision until their diagnosis is either confirmed or not.

The majority of confirmed cases - about 19,600 - were registered in China’s Hubei province, where the respiratory illness was first identified. A total of 549 people have already died of the novel coronavirus there, and 633 have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

The provinces of Zhejiang and Guangdong reported 895 novel coronavirus cases each, but no deaths. A total of 46 and 78 people have been discharged from hospitals in those two regions, respectively.

A total of 253 cases have been confirmed in the capital Beijing, one person died. The Heilongjiang province and Inner Mongolia, both bordering Russia, reported 190 cases (two deaths) and 42 cases, respectively.

On December 31, 2019, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of an unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, a large trade and industrial center in central China populated by 11 million people. On January 7, Chinese experts identified the infecting agent as coronavirus 2019-nCoV.

Cases of the novel coronavirus were also confirmed in 24 other countries, including Russia. The WHO declared the novel coronavirus outbreak an international public health emergency.

A number of states, including Russia, evacuated their citizens from Hubei. On February 5, a total of 144 people - citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine - were taken to Western Siberia’s Tyumen region.

Wednesday’s report put the number of infected in China at over 24,300, and the death toll at 491.