BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported 68 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Friday.

Of the new local cases, 28 were reported in Heilongjiang, 10 in Hebei, eight in Liaoning, five each in Henan and Gansu, four in Ningxia, two each in Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi and Sichuan, and one each in Guizhou and Yunnan.

Also reported were 10 new imported cases, of which three each were reported in Shanghai and Guangxi, and one each in Tianjin, Liaoning, Guangdong and Yunnan, according to the commission.

One new suspected case arriving from outside the mainland was reported in Shanghai as well, the commission added.

No new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported on Thursday, said the commission.

A total of 9,697 imported cases had been reported on the mainland by the end of Thursday. Among them, 9,324 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 373 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland had reached 97,605 by Thursday, including 1,129 patients still receiving treatment, 37 of whom were in severe condition.

A total of 91,840 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 42 asymptomatic cases were newly reported, of whom 20 were from outside the mainland. There were a total of 426 asymptomatic cases, of whom 348 were imported, under medical observation as of Thursday.

By the end of Thursday, 12,359 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 16,430 cases, including 847 deaths, had been reported in Taiwan.

A total of 12,035 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, while 75 had been discharged in the Macao SAR, and 13,742 had been discharged in Taiwan.