BEIJING, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authority said Sunday that it received reports of 16 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland Saturday, of which nine were imported.

The other seven new cases were domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said in a daily report, noting that six cases were reported in Heilongjiang Province and one in Guangdong Province.

No death was reported Saturday on the mainland. Two new suspected cases, one domestic case in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the other one imported, were also reported.

According to the commission, 33 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery Saturday, while the number of severe cases stood at 85.

As of Saturday, the mainland had reported a total of 1,575 imported cases. Of the cases, 728 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, 847 were being treated with 47 in severe condition, said the commission.

No death from the imported cases had been reported, it added.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,735 by Saturday, including 1,041 patients who were still being treated, 77,062 people who had been discharged after recovery, and 4,632 people who died of the disease, the commission said.

The commission said that 48 people, including 44 from abroad, were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

It added that 8,632 close contacts were still under medical observation. On Saturday, 1,073 people were discharged from medical observation.

Also on Saturday, 44 new asymptomatic cases, including three from abroad, were reported on the mainland. No asymptomatic case was re-categorized as a confirmed one, and 62 were discharged from medical observation including eight imported cases, according to the commission.

The commission said 999 asymptomatic cases, including 186 from abroad, were still under medical observation.

By Saturday, 1,023 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 45 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 398 in Taiwan including six deaths.

A total of 568 patients in Hong Kong, 17 in Macao and 178 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.  ■