BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland on Sunday reported 42 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 33 locally transmitted ones, the National Health Commission said on Feb 1.

Of the locally transmitted cases, 22 were reported in Heilongjiang, 10 in Jilin, and one in Hebei, the commission said in its daily report.

A total of nine new imported cases were reported, including four in Shanghai, two in Beijing, and one each in Tianjin, Hunan and Guangdong.

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

The same day saw the discharge of 96 COVID-19 patients from hospitals following their recovery.

By the end of Sunday, a total of 4,717 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Among them, 4,415 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 302 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 89,564 by Sunday, including 1,614 patients still receiving treatment, 68 of whom were in severe conditions.

A total of 83,314 patients had been discharged following recovery on the mainland, and 4,636 had died as a result of the virus, according to the commission.

There was one suspected COVID-19 case on the mainland on Sunday, and 38,217 close contacts remained under medical observation.

Sunday also saw 16 asymptomatic cases newly reported, with six of them arriving from outside the mainland. On the same day, five asymptomatic cases were newly re-categorized as confirmed cases.

A total of 891 asymptomatic cases were under medical observation, of whom 297 arrived from outside the mainland.

By the end of Sunday, 10,452 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 181 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), while 47 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 911 cases, including eight deaths, had been reported in Taiwan.

A total of 9,423 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, while 46 had been discharged in the Macao SAR, and 830 had been discharged in Taiwan.