Mainland reports 19 new coronavirus cases, all but 1 imported

A total of 19 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infections and four deaths were reported on Friday on the Chinese mainland, bringing the two numbers up to 81,639 and 3,326 respectively, the commission said.

With only one locally transmitted case in the Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan – the hardest-hit city in the country -- the rest of the infections were all imported cases, bringing the tally to 888 as of Friday midnight, said the commission on Saturday, adding that all the fatalities occurred in Wuhan as well.

Of the 888 imported cases, 698 patients were still being treated, including 17 severe cases, while 190 patients had been discharged from hospitals after recovery by the end of Friday, with no deaths reported.

With another 11 new suspected cases reported Friday, a total of 114 people, all overseas travelers, are still suspected of being infected with the virus, it added.

Also on Friday, 180 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 48 to 331. A total of 76,751 people had been discharged from hospitals after recovery as of Friday midnight.

Health authorities on the mainland have traced 712,088 people with close contact with patients, adding that among them, 2,346 were discharged from medical observation Friday, with 18,286 others still under medical observation.

The Chinese mainland also reported 64 new asymptomatic cases on Friday, along with 58 discharged from medical observation. So far, a total of 1,030 asymptomatic patients infected with the virus have been put under medical observation, according to the commission.

By the end of Friday, 845 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in Hong Kong, 43 confirmed cases in Macao, and 348 in Taiwan including five deaths. And 173 patients in Hong Kong, 10 in Macao and 50 in Taiwan have been discharged from hospitals after recovery.

Hubei province, the hard-hit region on the Chinese mainland, has reported one locally transmitted case and saw four new fatalities, all in its capital Wuhan on Friday. The latest report brought the number of total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 67,803 and total deaths to 3,207.

The province also saw 150 patients discharged from hospitals after recovery on Friday, bringing the total number of discharged patients in the province to 63,762, it said, adding that Hubei had zero suspected cases as of Friday midnight.