46 new COVID-19 cases on mainland; all but 10 imported

A total of 46 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infections and one death were reported on Tuesday on the Chinese mainland, bringing the two numbers up to 82,295 and 3,342 respectively, the National Health Commission said.

With eight locally transmitted cases in Heilongjiang province and two in Guangdong province, the rest of the 36 infections were all imported cases, bringing the tally to 1,500 as of Tuesday midnight, said the commission.

Of the 1,500 imported cases, 904 patients were still under treatment, including 45 severe cases, while 596 patients had been discharged from hospitals after recovery by the end of Tuesday with no deaths reported.

Also on Tuesday, 78 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by three to 113. A total of 77,816 people had been discharged from hospitals after recovery as of Tuesday midnight.

With another 11 new suspected cases reported Tuesday, a total of 73 people, 72 of whom traveled abroad, are still suspected of being infected with the virus, it added.

Health authorities said that 8,309 close contacts were still under medical observation. On Tuesday, 1,058 people were discharged from medical observation.

The Chinese mainland also reported 57 new asymptomatic cases on Tuesday, along with 32 discharged from medical observation. So far, a total of 1,023 asymptomatic patients infected with the virus have still been under medical observation, 228 of whom were detected from inbound arrivals, according to the commission.

By the end of Tuesday, 1,012 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in Hong Kong, 45 confirmed cases in Macao, and 393 in Taiwan including six deaths. And 434 patients in Hong Kong, 15 in Macao and 124 in Taiwan have been discharged from hospitals after recovery.

Hubei province, the hardest-hit region on the Chinese mainland, has reported zero locally transmitted cases but one new fatality on Tuesday.

The province also saw 39 patients discharged from hospitals after recovery on Tuesday, bringing the total number of discharged patients in the province to 64,402, it said, adding that Hubei had no suspected cases as of Tuesday midnight.