WUHAN, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hubei Province reported 180 new confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and 15 new deaths on Friday, the provincial health authorities announced Saturday.

By the end of Friday, 729 cumulative confirmed cases of the new coronavirus pneumonia had been reported in the province, with 39 deaths.

The deaths were aged between 55 and 87, according to the announcement.

To date, 658 patients of the new coronavirus pneumonia remained hospitalized in the province, including 57 in critical condition and 100 in severe situation. Meanwhile, 4,711 who had close contacts with the patients were under medical observation.

Four places in the province, which are cities of Suizhou, Ezhou and Tianmen, as well as Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, reported their first findings of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus pneumonia on Friday.

Nationwide, a total of 1,287 confirmed cases had been reported in the country by the end of Friday, according to the National Health Commission.

The pneumonia situation had resulted in 41 deaths, including 39 in Hubei Province, one in north China's Hebei Province and one in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. A total of 1,965 suspected cases had also been reported.

Thirty-eight people who recovered have been discharged from hospitals.