A resident (right) registers for a movement pass at a checkpoint in a residential community in the city of Shulan, Jilin province, May 14, 2020. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING/WUHAN/CHANGCHUN/HARBIN - Chinese health authorities said Friday that it received reports of four new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Thursday.

All the four cases were transmitted domestically and reported in Jilin province, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

Two of the cases were close contacts of earlier confirmed cases in Shulan city while the other two were close contacts of earlier confirmed cases in Jilin city, according to local health authorities.

No deaths related to the disease or imported cases were reported, according to the commission.

Meanwhile, one new suspected case imported from abroad was reported in Shanghai.

No new confirmed cases were reported in Hubei province Thursday, the provincial health commission said

On Thursday, 14 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery, while the number of severe cases increased by two to 11.

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As of Thursday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,933, including 91 patients who were still being treated, and 78,209 people who had been discharged after recovery.

Altogether, 4,633 people had died of the disease, the commission said.

By Thursday, the mainland had reported a total of 1,692 imported cases. Out of those cases, 1,646 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 46 remained hospitalized with three in severe conditions. No deaths from the imported cases had been reported.

The commission said four people, all from overseas, were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

According to the commission, 5,211 close contacts were still under medical observation after 509 people were released from medical observation Thursday.

China has been attaching equal attention to both asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and other confirmed cases, Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the commission, said

Also on Thursday, 11 new asymptomatic cases including two from abroad were reported on the mainland. No cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases, and 104 asymptomatic cases, including three from overseas, were released from medical observation.

The commission said 619 asymptomatic cases, including 35 from overseas, were still under medical observation.

China has been attaching equal attention to both asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and other confirmed cases, Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the commission, said.

Zeng said at a press conference that such cases have been placed under proper isolation and strict medical observation measures.

Asymptomatic cases included those who have been infected but have no symptoms at all or very mild symptoms, Zeng said. There are also people whose disease is in the incubation period and may develop relevant symptoms later.

"It is neither proper to put these cases under the category of confirmed cases, nor silent infections, so we use the term asymptomatic case to facilitate our management of them," Zeng said.

However, Zeng stressed the implementation of equally strict measures for such cases regarding both the information disclosure of such cases in the commission's daily reports and their management.

Jilin

By Thursday, Jilin had reported a total of 119 confirmed cases transmitted locally, including one death and 92 patients who had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.

There are still 26 patients receiving treatment in hospital, three of whom are in severe condition.

A total of 686 close contacts of local transmission cases in the province are now under medical observation.

To prevent the spread of the epidemic, the province has stepped up the screening of people infected with the novel coronavirus in some key areas. The province has also sent medical experts to help with the treatment in the affected cities. 

Hubei

No new confirmed cases were reported in Hubei province Thursday, the provincial health commission said Friday.

As of the end of Thursday, Hubei still has six confirmed cases, including one in severe condition and one in critical condition.

The province has 492 asymptomatic cases under medical observation, after nine such cases were added and 91 were released from quarantine on Thursday.

Both Hubei and Heilongjiang reported zero new confirmed cases on Thursday, local health authorities

A total of 283,349 close contacts of COVID-19 patients in the province had been tracked by Thursday, 812 of whom were still under medical observation.

Hubei has so far reported a total of 68,134 confirmed cases, including 50,339 in Wuhan. The death toll remains at 4,512, including 3,869 deaths in Wuhan.

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Heilongjiang

No new confirmed cases were reported in northeast China's Heilongjiang province on Thursday, the provincial health commission said Friday.

By Thursday, the province had reported a total of 559 confirmed cases transmitted locally and 386 imported cases.

The province still has two confirmed cases and five asymptomatic cases, according to the commission.

A total of 890 close contacts of COVID-19 patients in the province are still under medical observation.

HK, Macao, Taiwan

Meanwhile, by Thursday, 1,051 confirmed cases, including four deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 45 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 440 in Taiwan, including seven deaths.

A total of 1,009 patients in Hong Kong, 43 in Macao, and 383 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.