Central China's Hubei province has confirmed 3,554 cases of the novel coronavirus as of Tuesday, the provincial health commission said on Wednesday morning.

The number of confirmed infections in Hubei increased by 840 on Tuesday, and the death toll rose by 25 on the same day, according to a statement on the commission's website.

By the end of Tuesday, 125 people had been killed by the highly contagious pneumonia, and 80 patients had been cured and released from the hospital.

Currently 3,349 people are receiving hospitalization in Hubei. Among them, 671 patients have serious symptoms and another 228 people are in critical condition, the commission added.

Provincial health authorities have traced 22,095 people who have met face-to-face with infected people. A total of 20,366 of them are under medical observation, according to the commission.

In Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, 315 new infections were confirmed on Tuesday, increasing the number of patients to 1,905 in the provincial capital. Nineteen patients died on the day in the economic and transportation hub in central China.