BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the National Health Commission said on Feb 26.

The commission received reports of six new imported COVID-19 cases on Thursday.

No new deaths or suspected cases related to the disease were reported, according to the commission.

On Thursday, 43 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals following their recovery.

By the end of Thursday, a total of 4,974 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Among them, 4,818 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 156 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 89,877 by Thursday, including 244 patients still receiving treatment, one of whom was in severe condition.

A total of 84,997 patients had been discharged following recovery on the mainland, and 4,636 had died of the disease.

There was one suspected COVID-19 case on the mainland by the end of Thursday, and 7,828 close contacts remained under medical observation.

Thursday also saw six asymptomatic cases newly reported, all arriving from outside the mainland. One asymptomatic case arriving from outside the mainland was later re-categorized as a confirmed one.

A total of 270 asymptomatic cases were under medical observation, of whom 252 arrived from outside the mainland.

By the end of Thursday, 10,926 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 198 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 48 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 951 cases, including nine deaths, had been reported in Taiwan.

A total of 10,474 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, 47 had been discharged in the Macao SAR, and 906 had been discharged in Taiwan.