The turning point for the novel coronavirus epidemic has been reached and the number of new outbreaks is declining, the state-run China Central Television reports, citing Wang Xinghuan, head of Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital, Bloomberg reports.

The number of people with a fever has been sliding steadily and has never rebounded, Wang was cited as saying.

The death toll from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped to 1,770 after 105 more people died, the National Health Commission said Monday, February 17.

More than 70,500 have now been infected nationwide by the virus, which first emerged in December in central Hubei province before spreading across the country.

The number of reported infections ballooned on Thursday last week after Hubei authorities changed their criteria for counting cases, retroactively adding 14,000 cases in a single day.

Monday's figures for new cases were around 100 higher than those on Sunday but still sharply down on those from Friday and Saturday.