WUHAN, Jan. 28 -- The number of fever patients in central China's Wuhan saw an increase, with over 15,000 during peak hours over the past few days, said Ma Guoqiang, the city's Party secretary.

Wuhan usually received an average of 3,000 fever patients daily over the period of past years, so the surge in number resulted in long queues in some hospitals, Ma said at a press conference on Monday night.

"Currently there are 62 hospitals in Wuhan that are equipped with fever clinics, and the situation is getting better," Ma said.

Hu Ke, a respiratory physician at Hubei Provincial People's Hospital, said the number of discharged patients will also grow as diagnosis and treatment are being improved.

Hu said the treatment cycle for viral pneumonia is about two to three weeks. To ensure that cured patients infected with pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) are noninfectious, they will have to go through two virus detections and meet other standards before being released.