WUHAN, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hubei province reported 105 new confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and seven new deaths on Thursday, the provincial health authorities announced Friday.

As of Thursday midnight, 549 cumulative confirmed cases of the new coronavirus pneumonia had been reported in the province, with 24 deaths, according to the announcement.

To date, 494 patients of the new coronavirus pneumonia remained hospitalized in the province, including 23 in critical condition and 106 in severe situation. Meanwhile, 2,776 who had close contacts with the patients were under medical observation.

Four cities in the province, which are Xiaogan, Xiantao, Yichang and Shiyan, reported their first findings of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus pneumonia on Thursday.

China on Thursday morning locked down Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, in an unprecedented effort to curb the spread of the epidemics, after it resulted in 25 deaths.