26 new COVID-19 cases on mainland; 15 imported, 11 local

The Chinese mainland reported 15 additional imported COVID-19 cases and another 11 locally transmitted infections over the course of Thursday, according to the National Health Commission.

As of Thursday midnight, the case count of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus has reached 82,367 on Chinese mainland, including 1,549 imported cases, it said.

There are now 62 suspected cases on the Chinese mainland. All three of the suspected cases counted on Thursday are from inbound arrivals, it added.

It said, with an increase of 66 asymptomatic cases, including three imported ones, in the 24 hours ending Thursday midnight, 1,038 people harboring the virus but showing no symptoms are still under medical observation and 206 of them represent imported cases.

No further deaths occurred on Thursday. So far, a total of 3,342 people have died of the pathogen.

Another six people exhibiting serious symptoms were released from intensive care over the course of Thursday, bringing the number of such patients down to 89.

It also said 1,081 patients are still being hospitalized, a daily drop of 52. Among the patients still under treatment, 879 had arrived from abroad.

Of the 722,909 people that have been traced as close contacts with those infected, 8,970 are still under medical observation, it added.

Hubei province has reported no further confirmed and suspected cases on Thursday. But most of the patients showing serious symptoms on the Chinese mainland are from the province.

Among the 129 patients that are still hospitalized in the province, 32 people need intensive care, according to the commission. All the patients are from the Hubei provincial capital Wuhan.

The Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan province have reported a total of 1,457 confirmed cases, including four deaths in Hong Kong and six deaths in Taiwan, the commission noted.

Meanwhile, 656 recovered patients in these regions have been discharged from hospitals.