New COVID-19 cases, deaths in China drop to encouraging thresholds: health official

　　BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The daily number of newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) reported across China Monday dropped to under 2,000 for the first time, Mi Feng, an official with the National Health Commission, said Tuesday.

　　Monday also saw the new confirmed infections of COVID-19 outside Hubei reduced to a number lower than 100 for the first time, Mi said at a press conference in Beijing.

　　He added that, for the first time, the daily number of new deaths also slid to below 100 across the country.

　　Comparing the statistics in the peak period, Mi said the first appearance of these three noteworthy decreasing numbers demonstrate that the epidemic situation is further developing towards a good prospect.