BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's daily new confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease outside Hubei, the epicenter province in the outbreak, have been dropping for 12 consecutive days, according to the National Health Commission Sunday.

A total of 166 new confirmed cases were reported on Saturday outside Hubei, the commission said.

The commission received reports of 2,009 new confirmed cases on Saturday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, including 1,843 in Hubei.