New infections still mostly imported

A total of 62 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus and two deaths were reported on Tuesday on the Chinese mainland, bringing the two numbers up to 81,802 and 3,333 respectively, the National Health Commission said.

Though two locally transmitted cases were reported in Shandong province and one in Guangdong province, the remaining infections were all imported, bringing the tally to 1,042 as of Tuesday at midnight, the commission said on Wednesday, adding Hubei province and Shanghai each accounted for one fatality.

Of the 1,042 imported cases, 714 patients were still under treatment, including 23 severe cases, while 328 patients had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Tuesday, with no deaths reported.

With another 12 new suspected cases reported Tuesday, a total of 83 people are still suspected of being infected with the virus, 82 of whom are detected from overseas travelers.

Also on Tuesday, 112 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 22 to 189. A total of 77,279 people have been discharged from hospital after recovery as of Tuesday midnight.

Health authorities on the mainland have traced 715,854 people who have had close contact with patients. Among them, 2,295 were discharged from medical observation on Tuesday, with 13,334 others still under medical observation.

The Chinese mainland also reported 137 new asymptomatic cases on Tuesday, along with 64 discharged from medical observation. So far, a total of 1,095 asymptomatic patients infected with the virus have been put under medical observation.

By the end of Tuesday, 935 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in Hong Kong, 44 confirmed cases in Macao, and 376 in Taiwan, including five deaths. Of these, 236 patients in Hong Kong, 10 in Macao and 61 in Taiwan have been discharged from hospital after recovery.

Hubei province, the hardest-hit region on the Chinese mainland, has reported zero local transmitted cases and one new fatality in its capital Wuhan on Tuesday. The latest report brought the number of total confirmed cases in the province to 67,803 and total deaths to 3,213.

The province also saw 69 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on Tuesday, bringing the total number of discharged patients in the province to 64,142, it said, adding Hubei had zero suspected cases as of Tuesday at midnight.