JINAN/URUMQI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- East China's Shandong Province and northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have downgraded their emergency response toward the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Shandong lowered the emergency response from the top level to the second level, while Xinjiang lowered its emergency response from the second level to the third level, both starting from Sunday.

Previously, Xinjiang downgraded its emergency response from the top level to the second level on Feb. 26.