BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua)-Chinese health authority Tuesday said it received reports of 1,886 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 98 deaths on Monday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Among the deaths, 93 were in Hubei Province, three in Henan, and one in Hebei and Hunan respectively, according to the National Health Commission.

Another 1,432 new suspected cases were reported Monday, said the commission.

Also on Monday, 1,097 patients became seriously ill, while 1,701 people were discharged from hospital after recovery.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 72,436 by the end of Monday, and 1,868 people had died of the disease.

The commission added that 11,741 patients remained in severe condition, and 6,242 people were suspected of being infected with the virus.

A total of 12,552 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

The commission said 560,901 close contacts had been traced, adding that among them, 27,908 were discharged from medical observation Monday, with 141,552 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Monday, 60 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.

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