12 new COVID-19 cases on mainland; all but 1 imported

The Chinese mainland reported 12 new confirmed COVID-19 infections over the course of Friday, with 11 being imported cases, according to the National Health Commission.

The domestic infection was detected in the northernmost province of Heilongjiang – a recent novel coronavirus hot spot – and no deaths were reported, the commission said.

The commission said three suspected infections were added over the course of Friday, with two being imported. The domestic one was detected in Beijing.

It said 89 coronavirus patients were released from hospitals, 566 finished medical observations, and the number of critically ill patients went down by eight.

To date, China has 720 imported cases (including 25 patients in critical condition) and 14 suspected cases. A total of 1,629 imported cases have been detected, alongside 909 patients released from hospitals and no deaths.

According to the commission, 838 patients are still hospitalized on the Chinese mainland, with 49 in critical condition.

A total of 77,346 have been released from hospitals. Deaths stood at 4,632. The total number of confirmed cases reached 82,816, with 17 being suspected cases.

China had traced 729,287 close contacts, of which 8,439 are still under medical observation.

Hubei province – which was hit hard by the virus – has reported no further confirmed and suspected cases on Friday.

Currently, all the 23 hospitalized patients are in the provincial capital of Wuhan, and none were critically ill, according to the commission.

The Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan have reported a total of 1,508 confirmed cases, including four deaths in Hong Kong and six deaths in Taiwan, the commission said.

It said, with an increase of 29 asymptomatic cases, including four imported ones, in the 24 hours ending Friday midnight, 983 people harboring the virus but showing no symptoms are still under medical observation and 150 of them are inbound arrivals.