BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authority said Tuesday it received reports of 19 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 17 deaths on the Chinese mainland on Monday.

The 17 deaths were all in Hubei Province, according to the National Health Commission.

Meanwhile, 36 new suspected cases were reported, said the commission.

Also on Monday, 1,297 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 317 to 4,794.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,754 by the end of Monday, including 17,721 patients who were still being treated, 59,897 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,136 people who died of the disease.

The commission said that 349 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

The commission added that 16,982 close contacts were still under medical observation. On Monday, 4,148 people were discharged from medical observation.

Also on Monday, two imported cases of novel coronavirus infection were reported on the mainland, one of which was in Beijing and the other one was in Guangdong Province. By the end of Monday, 69 imported cases had been reported, said the commission.

By the end of Monday, 115 confirmed cases including three deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 45 in Taiwan including one death.

A total of 60 patients in Hong Kong, 10 in Macao and 15 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospital after recovery.  ■