China has identified 41 new imported cases of the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in mainland China has risen to 81,008, including 3,255 deaths, and over 71,700 patients have recovered.
"The National Health Commission received information about 81,008 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by a new type of coronavirus from 31 provinces [regions and municipalities], including 6,013 currently ill people. 1,963 people are in critical condition, 3,255 have died, 71,740 people have been discharged from hospitals", the statement said.
Out of 41 new cases, 14 were registered in Beijing, nine - in Shanghai, seven more - in Guangdong province, four - in Fujian province, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, and Shandong detected two cases each, and one case was in Sichuan. The whole number of imported COVID-19 cases in China has reached 269.
No new cases of the coronavirus have been registered in the province of Hubei, where the city of Wuhan – the epicenter of the pandemic – is located.
The number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong stands at 256 people, with four patients having died and 98 more having been discharged from hospitals. Seventeen people have been infected with the disease in Macao, with 10 of them having been released from medical facilities. The number of infected people in Taiwan amounts to 135, with two of them having died and 28 others recovered.
The worldwide number of COVID-19 cases has reached 234,073, while a total of 9,840 people have died, according to the latest situation report by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Originating in China, the virus has rapidly moved to Europe, where some 104,000 out of 234,073 global confirmed cases have been registered so far, according to the WHO. Italy remains the hotbed of coronavirus in Europe, with over 47,000 people infected and more than 4,030 deaths registered.
At the same time, John Hopkins University says that the global number of COVID-19 cases stands at 271,629, with more than 11,000 fatalities.
