BEIJING, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authority said Friday that it received reports of 12 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Thursday, of which six were imported.

The other six new cases were domestically transmitted, including five in Heilongjiang Province and one in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the National Health Commission said in a daily report.

Three suspected cases imported from abroad, all in Shanghai, were reported.

No deaths were reported Thursday on the mainland, according to the commission.

Altogether 32 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery Thursday, while the number of severe cases dropped by three to 38.

As of Thursday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,874, including 599 patients who were still being treated and 77,642 people who had been discharged after recovery, the commission said.

Altogether 4,633 people had died of the disease, it said.

By Thursday, the mainland had reported a total of 1,670 imported cases. Of the cases, 1,165 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 505 were being treated with seven in severe conditions. No deaths from the imported cases had been reported.

The commission said that nine people, including seven from abroad, were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

According to the commission, 7,761 close contacts were still under medical observation after 882 people were discharged from medical observation on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, 25 new asymptomatic cases were reported on the mainland. Six asymptomatic cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases, and 36 people, 11 of whom were from abroad, were discharged from medical observation, according to the commission.

The commission said 981 asymptomatic cases, including 115 from abroad, were still under medical observation.

By Thursday, 1,037 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 45 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 429 in Taiwan including six deaths.

A total of 846 patients in Hong Kong, 35 in Macao and 322 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.  ■