Chinese mainland reports 2 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases

BEIJING -- China's National Health Commission said on Dec 14 that it received reports of 16 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Sunday, including two domestically transmitted cases and 14 imported ones.

All the domestically transmitted cases were reported in Heilongjiang province, the commission said in its daily report.

No new suspected cases or new deaths related to the disease were reported.

A total of nine COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery on the Chinese mainland on Sunday.

By the end of Sunday, a total of 4,035 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Among them, 3,771 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 264 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 86,741 by Sunday, including 313 patients still receiving treatment.

A total of 81,794 patients had been discharged from hospitals following recovery on the mainland, and 4,634 had died of the virus, according to the report.

There were two suspected COVID-19 cases on the mainland as of Sunday, and 7,277 close contacts remained under medical observation.

Sunday also saw nine newly reported asymptomatic cases on the mainland, all arriving from outside the mainland. On the same day, one imported asymptomatic case was re-categorized as a confirmed one.

A total of 197 asymptomatic cases were under medical observation, out of which 183 were imported cases, the commission said.

By the end of Sunday, 7,541 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 117 deaths, had been reported in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), while 46 confirmed cases had been reported in Macao SAR, and 736 cases, including seven deaths, in Taiwan.

Altogether 6,202 COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, while 46 had been discharged from hospitals in Macao SAR, and 606 in Taiwan.