A total of 31 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and four deaths were reported on Thursday on the Chinese mainland, bringing the two numbers to 81,620 and 3,322 respectively, statistics from the National Health Commission showed on Friday.

All four new fatalities occurred in Hubei province, the commission said, adding there were another 12 new suspected cases reported Thursday, all from abroad. A total of 135 people are still suspected of being infected with the virus, and there are 1,727 confirmed cases across the country.

For newly confirmed cases, 29 were imported from abroad, and Northeast China's Liaoning province and South China’s Guangdong province each respectively reported one local case.

As of Thursday, China found 870 confirmed imported cases, with 160 of them cured and discharged from hospitals. Nineteen of them are in severe condition.

Regarding asymptomatic cases, the official data showed there were 60 of such new cases reported on Thursday, seven of which were imported from abroad.

A total of 1,027 asymptomatic coronavirus patients, including 221 from abroad, are under medical observation.

On Thursday, 163 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 50 to 379. A total of 76,571 people had been discharged from hospitals after recovery as of Thursday.

By the end of Thursday, 802 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in Hong Kong, 41 confirmed cases in Macao and 339 in Taiwan including five deaths. And 154 patients in Hong Kong, 10 in Macao and 50 in Taiwan have been discharged from hospitals after recovery.

Hubei, the hardest-hit province on the Chinese mainland, reported zero new confirmed cases and suspected cases on Thursday. The province also has zero suspected cases at present.

As of Thursday, a total of 67,802 confirmed cases and 3,203 deaths have been reported in Hubei. It still has 987 confirmed cases, including 349 in severe condition.

The province also saw 141 patients discharged from hospitals after recovery on Thursday, bringing the total number of discharged patients in the province to 63,612.