BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authority Saturday said it received reports of 2,641 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 143 deaths on Friday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Among the deaths, 139 were in Hubei Province, two in Henan, and one in Beijing and Chongqing respectively, according to the National Health Commission. Another 2,277 new suspected cases were reported Friday, said the commission. Also on Friday, 849 patients became seriously ill, while 1,373 people were discharged from hospital after recovery. The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 66,492 by the end of Friday, and 1,523 people had died of the disease. The commission added that 11,053 patients remained in severe condition, and 8,969 people were suspected of being infected with the virus. A total of 8,096 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery. The commission said 513,183 close contacts had been traced, adding that among them, 30,081 were discharged from medical observation Friday, with 169,039 others still under medical observation. By the end of Friday, 56 confirmed cases including one death had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 18 in Taiwan. One patient in Hong Kong, three in Macao and one in Taiwan have been discharged from hospital after recovery.