Taipei, Feb. 28 (CNA) Three more patients in Taiwan who were infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were discharged from the hospital Thursday after recovering from the disease, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced Friday.

This brought the total number of people who have been discharged after being hospitalized for treatment in Taiwan to nine, the CECC said.

The remaining 24 patients are still in hospital quarantine and are all in stable condition, the CECC said.

As of Friday afternoon, there had been 2,094 people suspected of being infected, including 34 confirmed cases, with one death. it said. A total of 2,037 people had been cleared of contraction, with the remainder waiting for test results while under quarantine.

Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung announced, meanwhile, that the bar for releasing an infected person from quarantine has been set higher at three negative tests instead of just two to reduce the possibility of a recurrence.

To date, China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) has confirmed 78,824 cases, including 2,788 deaths and 7,952 severe cases.

In the rest of the world, there are over 4,700 confirmed cases, with South Korea topping the list at 2,337 cases.