Oct 18: Daily briefing on novel coronavirus cases in China

On Oct 17, 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland reported 24 new cases of confirmed infections (22 imported cases, 6 in Shanghai municipality, 6 in Yunnan province, 5 in Shandong province, 2 in Guangdong province, 2 in Sichuan province and 1 in Shaanxi province, including 1 confirmed case converting from an asymptomatic case in Sichuan; 2 indigenous cases in Xi'an, Shaanxi), no new cases of suspected infections, and no deaths. 26 patients were released from hospital after being cured. 684 people who had had close contact with infected patients were freed from medical observation. The number of serious cases remained unchanged.

As of 24:00 on Oct 17, 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland had reported 9,422 cases of imported confirmed infections and no deaths. In all, 8,958 patients had been cured and discharged from hospital. There still remained 464 confirmed cases (including 1 case in serious condition) and 1 suspected case.

As of 24:00 on Oct 17, the National Health Commission had received reports of 96,546 confirmed cases and 4,636 deaths in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland, and in all 91,394 patients had been cured and discharged from hospital. There still remained 516 confirmed cases (including 1 case in serious condition) and 1 suspected case. 1,212,607 people had been identified as having had close contact with infected patients. 20,493 were still under medical observation.

On Oct 17, 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland reported 9 new asymptomatic cases (7 imported cases; 2 indigenous cases in Dehong Dai and Jingpo autonomous prefecture, Yunnan). 16 asymptomatic cases were freed from medical observation (including 13 imported cases) and 1 (imported case) became a confirmed case. As of 24:00 on Oct 17, 360 asymptomatic cases were still under medical observation (including 346 imported cases).

As of 24:00 on Oct 17, 28,708 confirmed infections had been reported in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan province: 12,294 in Hong Kong (213 had died and 11,992 had been cured and discharged from hospital), 77 in Macao (66 had been cured and discharged from hospital) and 16,337 in Taiwan (846 had died and 13,742 had been cured and discharged from hospital).