A medical staff waves goodbye to people discharged from medical observation at the People's Hospital in Yunyang County, southwest China's Chongqing, Feb. 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

"The number of newly cured and discharged COVID-19 patients in Chongqing has surpassed that of the hospitalized patients," said a local health official.

CHONGQING, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- More than half of the COVID-19 patients in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality had been discharged from hospital by Thursday after recovering from novel coronavirus infections.

With a total of 567 confirmed cases, Chongqing had discharged 299 COVID-19 patients from hospital, with another 262 still hospitalized, according to a press conference Friday.

"The number of newly cured and discharged COVID-19 patients in Chongqing has surpassed that of the hospitalized patients," said Xia Pei, deputy Party secretary of the Chongqing's health commission.

"Since Feb. 11, the daily number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in the municipality has shown a downward trend," Xia added. ■