BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authority Monday said it received reports of 409 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 150 deaths on Sunday from 31 provincial-level regions on the mainland.

Among the deaths, 149 were in Hubei Province and one in Hainan Province, according to the National Health Commission.

Another 620 new suspected cases were reported Sunday, said the commission.

Also on Sunday, 1,846 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 1,053 to 9,915.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 77,150 by the end of Sunday, and 2,592 people had died of the disease.

The commission added that 3,434 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

A total of 24,734 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

The commission said 635,531 close contacts had been traced, adding that among them, 16,758 were discharged from medical observation Sunday, with 97,481 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Sunday, 74 confirmed cases including two deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 28 in Taiwan including one death.

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