Another 1,693 novel coronavirus infections were confirmed for the 24 hours ending Tuesday midnight in Hubei province, the center of the outbreak, bringing up its total to 61,682, the province's health commission said.

The latest daily increase of 132 deaths takes total fatalities to date in the province to 1,921, it added.

Wuhan, Hubei's capital and epicenter of the outbreak, vastly outnumbers all other cities in the province as to the number of newly reported infections during the 24 hours ending Tuesday midnight with 1,660 cases, followed by Xiaogan with only 24.

The number of total cases in Wuhan now stands at 44,412. With 116 further deaths on Tuesday, the virus has claimed 1,497 lives in the provincial capital with a population of 11 million, the provincial apparatus said.

The commission also said there are now 3,462 suspected cases in the province.

It said 43,471 people sickened by the virus are still hospitalized. Among them, 9,289 exhibit serious symptoms and 1,957 are in critical condition.

Medical observation continues on a total of 68,345 people in the province.