The coastal city of Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang province reported 14 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus as of midnight of Jan 31, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the city to 241, according to the official website of the Health Commission of Zhejiang Province.

The total number of confirmed cases in Wenzhou surpasses Beijing, Shanghai as well as Chongqing, which neighbors Hubei province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, making the city become the one with the most confirmed cases outside of Hubei.

The daily data released on the website shows the number of the confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Wenzhou has kept increasing since Jan 27.

With a population of 9.25 million, Wenzhou boasts a population density of 774 per square kilometer, 5.5 times greater than the average population density of China and 1.4 times more than that in Zhejiang province. In the most populated Lucheng district of the city, the population density reaches 4,399 per square kilometer, increasing the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus.

In addition, statistics show a total of 180,000 people from Wenzhou either do business or study in Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus was first reported.

The increasing number of confirmed cases is related to the number of people who returned to Wenzhou from Wuhan, Tang Xiaoshu, vice-mayor of Wenzhou said at a news briefing on Jan 29.

The city has seen 33,000 people from Wuhan returning to Wenzhou as of Jan 29.

Wenzhou has been sparing no efforts to prevent and control the spread of the novel coronavirus. By Jan 29, Wenzhou had assembled a team of 37 medical experts for diagnosing and treating patients, Tang said.

A total of eight patients in the city have been cured and discharged from the hospital as of Jan 31.