Chinese mainland reports 4 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

Chinese health authority said on Friday that it received reports of four new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland on Thursday, of which two were imported and reported in Sichuan Province.

The other two cases were domestically transmitted in Jilin Province, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

No deaths related to the disease were reported Thursday, according to the commission.

One suspected case, which was imported from abroad, was reported on Thursday in Shanghai.

On Thursday, six people were discharged from hospitals after recovery, while the number of severe cases remained eight.

As of Thursday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,971, including 82 patients who were still being treated, and 78,255 people who had been discharged after recovery.

Altogether 4,634 people had died of the disease, the commission said.

By Thursday, the mainland had reported a total of 1,711 imported cases. Of the cases, 1,668 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 43 remained hospitalized with two in severe conditions. No deaths from the imported cases had been reported.

The commission said seven people were suspected of being infected with the virus, all were imported from overseas.

According to the commission, 4,958 close contacts were still under medical observation after 255 people were discharged from medical observation Thursday.

Also on Thursday, 35 new asymptomatic cases were reported on the mainland. No cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases, and 45 asymptomatic cases were discharged from medical observation.

The commission said 365 asymptomatic cases, including 26 from overseas, were still under medical observation.

By Thursday, 1,063 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 45 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 441 in Taiwan including seven deaths.

A total of 1,029 patients in Hong Kong, 45 in Macao, and 407 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.