BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported 53 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, of whom 37 were locally transmitted and the rest arrived from outside of the mainland, the National Health Commission said on Jan 8.

Thirty-three locally transmitted cases were reported in Hebei, two in Liaoning, and one each in Beijing and Heilongjiang, the commission said in its daily report.

A total of 16 new imported cases were reported, including eight in Shanghai, three in Guangdong, and one each in Liaoning, Jiangsu, Fujian, Henan, and Hunan.

No new suspected cases or deaths related to COVID-19 were reported.

Seventeen COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals following recovery on Thursday.

By the end of Thursday, a total of 4,375 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Among them, 4,093 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 282 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 87,331 by Thursday, including 521 patients still receiving treatment, 13 of whom were in severe conditions.

A total of 82,176 patients had been discharged following recovery on the mainland, and 4,634 had died as a result of the virus, according to the commission.

There were no suspected COVID-19 cases on the mainland on Thursday, and 23,974 close contacts remained under medical observation.

Thursday saw 57 asymptomatic cases newly reported, with 18 of them from outside the mainland. On the same day, five asymptomatic cases, three of them imported, were newly re-categorized as confirmed cases.

A total of 458 asymptomatic cases were under medical observation, of whom 243 arrived from outside the mainland.