BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Here are the latest developments:

-- China's National Genomics Data Center has updated its novel coronavirus disease database.

After updating, the database has now integrated information on 249 virus genome sequences including the novel coronavirus and the virus suspected to be related to the novel coronavirus, 38,047 coronavirus sequences, 302 variations of human novel coronavirus genome, and 588 novel coronavirus-related papers.

-- Central China's Hubei Province, the center of the COVID-19 outbreak, has classified its cities and counties based on the risks of the outbreak, according to local authorities.

Twenty-two cities and counties had been classified as low-risk, 17 as mid-risk and 37 as high-risk, by the end of Tuesday.

-- More than 41.28 million members of the Communist Party of China nationwide had made voluntary donations of 4.73 billion yuan (about 683 million U.S. dollars) for the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control as of Wednesday.

-- Chinese health authority on Wednesday unveiled the latest version of the national diagnosis and treatment plan for COVID-19 which includes the results of autopsies of COVID-19 victims and pathological observation based on needle biopsies.

-- China has added the antibody diagnosis method for COVID-19 and its relevant criteria in the country's latest diagnosis and treatment scheme, which also includes warning against transmission of the novel coronavirus via aerosol or contact due to environmental pollution caused by the excrement and urine of patients.

-- China's customs had detected 6,728 inbound travelers with illness symptoms as of Tuesday, among which 779 were suspected of being infected with COVID-19, and an additional 75 were confirmed patients.

-- Chinese banks had offered credit support of over 1.25 trillion yuan as of Wednesday noon to facilitate the resumption of production disrupted by the novel coronavirus epidemic.

-- By the end of Tuesday, the cure rate in the epicenter Wuhan had ascended to 50.2 percent, while the number has reached 76.8 percent in the rest of Hubei Province, according to spokesperson Mi Feng for the National Health Commission.

Outside Hubei, China has seen 87.3 percent of the confirmed cases recovering from the disease by Tuesday, Mi said.

-- Over 206,900 volunteers in Shanghai have joined the battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the Shanghai Association of Volunteers.

-- Chinese health authority said Wednesday it received reports of 119 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 38 deaths on Tuesday on the Chinese mainland.

Among the deaths, 37 were in Hubei Province and one in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to the National Health Commission.

Meanwhile, 143 new suspected cases were reported, said the commission.

-- A total of 2,652 patients of the novel coronavirus disease were discharged from hospital after recovery Tuesday on the Chinese mainland, the commission said. In total, 49,856 patients had been discharged from hospital by the end of Tuesday.

By the end of Tuesday, a total of 80,270 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 had been reported on the mainland, and 2,981 people had died of the disease.

-- Hubei Province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reported 115 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 37 deaths on Tuesday, according to the commission.

The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 67,332.

-- Beijing municipality has required people arriving in the city as a destination from countries with serious coronavirus outbreaks to be quarantined for 14 days, local authorities said Tuesday.

The rule applies to both Chinese nationals and foreigners who enter the border in the city from countries including the Republic of Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan.

-- Hubei is expected to gradually shut down temporary hospitals and cut the number of hospitals designated for the disease, local authorities said Tuesday.

The province will classify areas based on different risks of infection for management as more cities have seen zero growth in newly confirmed cases.