China reports 648 new cases, 97 deaths

CHINESE health authorities yesterday said they had received reports of 648 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 97 deaths on Saturday.

Among the deaths, 96 were in the central Hubei Province and one in the southern Guangdong Province, according to the National Health Commission.

Another 882 new suspected cases were reported on Saturday, the commission said.

Also on Saturday, 2,230 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 509 to 10,968.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 76,936 by the end of Saturday, and 2,442 people had died of the disease.

The commission added that 4,148 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

A total of 22,888 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

The NHC revealed that 628,517 close contacts of patients had been traced, adding that among them, 22,128 were discharged from medical observation on Saturday, with 106,089 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Saturday, 69 confirmed cases, including two deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 10 confirmed cases in the Macau SAR, and 26 in Taiwan, including one death.

Eleven patients in Hong Kong, six in Macau and two in Taiwan have been discharged from hospital after recovery.

Eighteen of the 648 confirmed cases of infection reported on Saturday on the mainland were from outside Hubei, Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the NHC, told a press conference in Beijing yesterday, adding that provinciallevel areas outside Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak, either saw less than five new confirmed cases or reported no confirmed cases on Saturday.

Mi also noted that 16 provincial-level areas and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported no new confirmed cases for two consecutive days.

The daily number of new confirmed cases outside Hubei dropped from 890 at its peak to 18 on Saturday, showing a fluctuating downward trend, said the spokesperson.

He reminded the public to continue epidemic control efforts while resuming work and production, and not to unnecessarily go out in public.

(Xinhua)