Medical workers cheer for each other before setting out for Hubei province to aid in the coronavirus control efforts there, at Xining Caojiapu International Airport in Xining, northwest China's Qinghai province, Feb 4, 2020. (ZHANG LONG / XINHUA)

BEIJING/WUHAN - Chinese health authorities Wednesday said it received reports of 3,887 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 65 deaths on Tuesday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

All of the fatalities were in Hubei province, according to China's National Health Commission.

Besides the fatalities, Hubei's health authorities reported 3,156 new infections on Tuesday. A total of 125 patients were discharged from hospital in Hubei on Tuesday.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland reached 24,324 by the end of Tuesday, the National Health Commission said, adding that 490 people had died of the disease

The provincial capital Wuhan reported 1,967 new infections and 49 new deaths, and the cities of Xiaogan, Huanggang, Huangshi, Xiangyang and Jingzhou reported 342, 223, 104, 103 and 100 new confirmed cases, respectively, according to the Hubei Provincial Health Commission. 

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Hubei had 16,678 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection by Tuesday, with 479 deaths and 2,520 cases in severe or critical condition. The province has seen 520 patients discharged from hospital.

The National Health Commission said there were 3,971 new suspected cases reported on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, 431 patients became seriously ill, and 262 people were discharged from hospital after recovery.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland reached 24,324 by the end of Tuesday, the commission said, noting that a total of 490 people had died of the disease.

The commission added that 3,219 patients remained in severe condition, and 23,260 people were suspected of being infected with the virus.

A total of 892 people have been discharged from hospital after recovery.

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The commission said 252,154 close contacts had been traced, adding that among them, 18,457 were discharged from medical observation on Tuesday, with 185,555 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Tuesday, 18 confirmed cases had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) including one death, ten cases in the Macao SAR and 11 in Taiwan.