Mainland China reports 427 new coronavirus cases on Feb. 28, up from day earlier

People wearing face masks walk next to barriers set up at a residential area in Wuhan

BEIJING (Reuters) - Mainland China had 427 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Friday, the country's National Health Commission said on Saturday, up from 327 cases a day earlier.

That brings the total accumulated number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 79,251.

The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China had reached 2,835 as of the end of Friday, up by 47 from the previous day.

The central province of Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak, reported 45 new deaths, while in the provincial capital of Wuhan, 37 people died.

(Reporting by Sophie Yu, Stella Qiu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sandra Maler)