Beijing, March 4 (IANS): Chinese health authority on Wednesday said it received reports of 119 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection and 38 deaths on Tuesday on the Chinese mainland.

Among the deaths, 37 were in Hubei Province and one in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to the National Health Commission (NHC).

Meanwhile, 143 new suspected cases were reported, said the Commission.

Also on Tuesday, 2,652 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 390 to 6,416, Xinhua news agency reported.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,270 by the end of Tuesday, including 27,433 patients who were still being treated, 49,856 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 2,981 people who had died of the disease.

The commission said that 520 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

The commission added 36,432 close contacts were still under medical observation. On Tuesday, 6,250 people were discharged from medical observation.

By the end of Tuesday, 100 confirmed cases including two deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 42 in Taiwan, including one death.

37 patients in Hong Kong, 9 in Macao and 12 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospital after recovery.