A doctor checks body temperature of a woman at a hospital in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Jan. 31, 2020. Various measures are taken across China to combat the novel coronavirus. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authorities announced Saturday that 11,791 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps by the end of Friday. A total of 259 people have died of the disease. ■