BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported 48 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Friday.

Of the new local cases, 19 were reported in Inner Mongolia, 12 in Gansu, nine in Heilongjiang, three in Qinghai, two each in Beijing and Ningxia, and one in Yunnan, the commission said.

Thursday also saw 16 new imported cases, of which four were reported in Guangdong, three each in Shanghai and Guangxi, two each in Zhejiang and Yunnan, and one each in Beijing and Inner Mongolia.

Shanghai reported one new suspected case, which was from outside the mainland. No new deaths from COVID-19 were reported on Thursday, it added.

A total of 9,562 imported cases had been reported on the mainland by the end of Thursday. Among them, 9,187 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 375 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland had reached 97,002 by Thursday, including 701 patients still receiving treatment. Among them, 38 were in severe condition.

A total of 91,665 patients had been discharged from hospitals following recovery on the mainland, and 4,636 had died as a result of the virus.

A total of 23 asymptomatic cases were newly reported, of which 20 were from outside the mainland. There were a total of 410 asymptomatic cases, of which 369 were imported, under medical observation as of Thursday.

By the end of Thursday, 12,337 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 213 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), while 77 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 16,394 cases, including 847 deaths, had been reported in Taiwan.

A total of 12,033 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, while 72 had been discharged in the Macao SAR, and 13,742 had been discharged in Taiwan.