Wuhan, May 4 (IANS): There has been no new confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in China's Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, where the deadly disease originated last December, for the 30th consecutive day, health officials said on Monday.

The provincial health commission said that as of Sunday, there were no existing confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hubei, reports Xinhua news agency.

The province still had 654 asymptomatic cases under medical observation, after nine such cases were added and six released from quarantine on Sunday.

A total of 282,701 close contacts of COVID-19 patients in the province had been tracked by Sunday, 1,280 of whom were still under medical observation.

As of Sunday, Hubei had reported 68,128 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total, including 50,333 in Wuhan, the provincial capital.

Hubei lowered its novel coronavirus emergency response level from the highest to the second-highest starting May 2.

As of Monday morning, China has 83,959 coronavirus cases, with 4,637 deaths.