BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authority Wednesday said it received reports of 1,749 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 136 deaths on Tuesday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Among the deaths, 132 were in Hubei Province and one in Heilongjiang, Shandong, Guangdong and Guizhou, respectively, according to the National Health Commission.

Another 1,185 new suspected cases were reported Tuesday, said the commission.

Also on Tuesday, 236 patients became seriously ill, while 1,824 people were discharged from hospital after recovery.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 74,185 by the end of Tuesday, and 2,004 people had died of the disease.

The commission added that 11,977 patients remained in severe condition, and 5,248 people were suspected of being infected with the virus.

A total of 14,376 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

The commission said 574,418 close contacts had been traced, adding that among them, 25,014 were discharged from medical observation Tuesday, with 135,881 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Tuesday, 62 confirmed cases including one death had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 22 in Taiwan including one death.

Four patients in Hong Kong, five in Macao and two in Taiwan have been discharged from hospital after recovery.  ■