The tally of COVID-19 patients in Hubei province zeroed out on June 5, after three recovered patients were discharged from a hospital in the provincial capital of Wuhan, according to the city's health authorities.

It is the second time the city has declared no COVID-19 patients on record since April 26.

The city health commission said the discharged patients had gone through two nucleic acid tests more than 24 hours apart, and both tests showed negative results on Wednesday.

Their body temperatures were of normal level and displayed no suspicious symptoms, the commission said.

The next day, a panel of experts sent to the city to oversee epidemic control efforts decided they could be discharged.