Fatality rate of novel coronavirus drops to 2.1 percent: official

The current case fatality rate (CFR) of the novel coronavirus infection on the Chinese mainland has dropped to 2.1 percent, Chinese health authorities disclosed Tuesday.

The CFR remained stable after an initial 2.3 percent recorded at the beginning of the outbreak, said Jiao Yahui with the National Health Commission (NHC) at a daily press briefing on the epidemic.

The CFR is calculated by dividing the number of deaths by the number of individuals diagnosed with the disease, Jiao noted.

By the end of Monday, the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on the Chinese mainland had reached 20,438, and a total of 425 people had died of the disease, according to the NHC.

"China is going all out to improve the admission and survival rates and reduce the infection and fatality rates," said Jiao.

The CFR in Hubei Province was 3.1 percent, as the majority of the deaths occurred in the province, accounting for 414 cases, or 97 percent of the total, Jiao said.

In Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei, the CFR stood at 4.9 percent and the death toll was 313, accounting for 74 percent of the national total, Jiao said.

The fatality rate outside Hubei was only 0.16 percent, Jiao added.

"This fatality rate is pretty low in other regions in China. So we are still confident, and there is no need for panic," Jiao stressed.