A medical worker embraces her colleague upon their reunion in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, April 23, 2020. The first batch of the medical assistance team supporting the virus-hit Hubei province reunited with their families and co-workers in Urumqi after completing a mandatory quarantine. (WANG FEI / XINHUA)

BEIJING/WUHAN/HARBIN - All of Wuhan's COVID-19 patients who were in serious condition have been cured, a health official said Friday.

The last patient in serious condition in Wuhan, the central China city hardest hit by the epidemic, was cured Friday, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, at a press conference in Beijing. 

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hubei dropped to below 50 Thursday for the first time, a spokesman for the National Health Commission said

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hubei dropped to below 50 Thursday for the first time, Mi said.

As of Thursday, no new confirmed or suspected cases had been reported in the province for the 20th consecutive day, Mi added.

According to the commission's daily report issued earlier Friday, Hubei had 47 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. 

Hubei's health authorities said 22 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospital after recovery on Thursday, all of whom were in Wuhan.

By the end of Thursday, the province had 544 asymptomatic cases under medical observation, after 22 new such cases were reported and 24 were ruled out on Thursday.

By Thursday, Hubei has reported 68,128 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total, including 50,333 in Wuhan.

Meanwhile at the press conference, Mi said that in the last 10 days, the number of imported cases in China has gradually dropped. However, there are still reports of domestically transmitted confirmed cases with connections to imported ones, Mi said.

All-round efforts should be made to thoroughly track the confirmed, suspected and asymptomatic cases and their close contacts so as to eliminate potential risks, he added. 

Nationwide, the commission said Friday that it received reports of six new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland Thursday, of which two were imported.

The other four new cases were domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said in a daily report, noting that three cases were reported in Heilongjiang province and one in Guangdong province.

Out of the six new cases, two were imported and four others were domestically-transmitted cases, of which three were reported in Heilongjiang and one in Guangdong, the National Health Commission said

No deaths were reported Thursday on the mainland. Two new suspected cases, all imported ones, were also reported. 

According to the commission, 50 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery Thursday, while the number of severe cases dropped by six to 57.

As of Thursday, the mainland had reported a total of 1,618 imported cases. Of the cases, 849 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 769 were being treated with 32 in severe conditions, said the commission.

No deaths from the imported cases had been reported, it added.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,804 by Thursday, including 915 patients who were still being treated and 77,257 people who had been discharged after recovery, the commission said.

Altogether 4,632 people had died of the disease, it said.

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The commission said that 20 people, including 17 from abroad, were still suspected of being infected with the virus.　

It added that 8,362 close contacts were still under medical observation. On Thursday, 607 people were discharged from medical observation.

Also on Thursday, 34 new asymptomatic cases, including one from abroad, were reported on the mainland. Three domestic asymptomatic cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases, and 36 people, 10 of whom were from abroad, were discharged from medical observation, according to the commission.

The commission said 979 suspected asymptomatic cases, including 157 from abroad, were still under medical observation.

By Thursday, 1,035 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 45 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 427 in Taiwan including six deaths.

A total of 699 patients in Hong Kong, 27 in Macao and 253 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery. 

Heilongjiang

Heilongjiang province reported three new domestic cases and zero imported cases on Thursday, the provincial health commission said Friday.

Also on Thursday, the province saw eight new asymptomatic cases.

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By Thursday, the province had reported a total of 543 locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 385 imported cases.

The province had a total of 23 imported asymptomatic cases by Thursday.