WUHAN, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, announced Monday to carry out disinfection operations throughout the city to curb the epidemic of the novel coronavirus.

To minimize the spread of the virus, hospitals, markets, neighborhoods, public toilets and sanitation facilities are the focus of the sterilization operations, according to the city management committee of Wuhan.

Every day, the city will carry out all-round sterilization and cleaning operations in over 240 medical institutions, over 30 centralized isolation places and more than 260 pedlars' markets, covering an area of over 1.7 million square meters.

Meanwhile, Wuhan will also strengthen such operations on public areas and sanitation facilities with mist cannon trucks and street sprinklers. Garbage collection and transfer stations, garbage disposal sites and public toilets, will be conducted sterilizations, with a daily disinfection area of more than 5 million square meters.

The city has distributed epidemic prevention materials such as masks, protective suits, disinfectants and hand sanitizer to the front-line workers.

By Sunday, Hubei, the center of the coronavirus epidemic, had reported 11,177 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection, with 350 deaths and 1,701 cases in severe or critical condition.