Patients rest at a makeshift hospital in the Wuchang district of Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, March 8, 2020. (XIONG QI / XINHUA)

BEIJING/WUHAN - The Chinese mainland on Sunday reported four new imported cases of COVID-19 caused by a novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of imported cases to 67, the National Health Commission said Monday.

All of the four cases were reported in northwest China's Gansu province, according to the commission.

The commission said it received reports of 40 new confirmed cases Sunday from 31 provincial-level regions on the mainland, including 36 from Hubei province.

By the end of Sunday, 67 imported cases had been reported, said the National Health Commission

Two imported COVID-19 patients in northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region had been discharged from hospital after recovery. 

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The commission said it received reports of 22 deaths on Sunday, of which 21 were in Hubei and one in Guangdong province.

All the new infections reported in Hubei were in Wuhan, the provincial capital, which also recorded 18 deaths.

Meanwhile, 60 new suspected cases were reported, said the commission.

Also on Sunday, 1,535 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 153 to 5,111.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,735 by the end of Sunday, including 19,016 patients who were still being treated, 58,600 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,119 people who had died of the disease.

By the end of Sunday, 67 imported cases had been reported, said the commission.

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In Hubei, the total number of confirmed cases had reached 67,743, and 3,007 had been reported. Wuhan has so far registered 49,948 confirmed cases and 2,388 deaths.

The province also saw 1,422 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on Sunday, bringing the total number of discharged patients in the province to 46,433.

Among the 15,826 hospitalized patients, 4,101 were still in severe condition and another 890 in critical condition.

Also on Sunday, Hubei had 277 suspected cases after 46 suspected cases were ruled out, while 28 new suspected cases. 

The commission said that 421 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

The commission added that 20,146 close contacts were still under medical observation. On Sunday, 3,802 people were released from medical observation.

By the end of Sunday, 114 confirmed cases including three deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 45 in Taiwan including one death.

Fifty-nine patients in Hong Kong, 10 in Macao and 15 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospital after recovery.