Workers pack masks at a plant of Lanzhou Petrochemical Company in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu province, March 4, 2020. (CHEN BIN / XINHUA)

BEIJING/WUHAN - Chinese health authorities said Thursday it received reports of 139 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 31 deaths on Wednesday on the Chinese mainland.

All the deaths were in Hubei province, according to the National Health Commission.

Among the new infections, 134 cases were reported in Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak. Wuhan, the provincial capital, reported 131 confirmed cases and 23 deaths on Wednesday. 

Among the new infections, 134 cases were reported in Hubei province. Wuhan, the provincial capital, reported 131 infections

Meanwhile, 143 new suspected cases were reported, said the commission.

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Also on Wednesday, 2,189 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 464 to 5,952.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,409 by the end of Wednesday, including 25,352 patients who were still being treated, 52,045 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,012 people who had died of the disease.

The commission said that 522 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

The commission added 32,870 close contacts were still under medical observation. On Wednesday, 6,584 people were released from medical observation.

By the end of Wednesday, 20 imported cases had been reported, said the commission.

Also on Wednesday, two imported cases of novel coronavirus infection were reported on the mainland, all of which were in Zhejiang province. By the end of Wednesday, 20 imported cases had been reported, said the commission.

In Hubei, the total number of confirmed cases had reached 67,466 and 2,902 deaths had been reported. Wuhan has so far registered 49,671 confirmed cases and 2,305 deaths.

Hubei also saw 1,923 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on Wednesday, bringing the total number of discharged patients in the province to 40,479.

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Among the 20,765 hospitalized patients, 4,747 were still in severe condition and another 1,041 in critical condition.

The provincial health commission said Hubei had 315 suspected cases, after 91 suspected cases were ruled out while 67 new suspected cases were reported on Wednesday. 

By the end of Wednesday, 104 confirmed cases including two deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 42 in Taiwan, including one death.

Forty-three patients in Hong Kong, nine in Macao and 12 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospital after recovery.