Beijing, Apr 12 (IANS): China on Sunday reported 99 new cases of the novel coronavirus, more than double of the infections registered a day earlier,

However, there were no deaths reported in the 24 hours from Saturday morning, the National Health Commission said.

The Commission said that of the 99 cases, 97 involved travellers from abroad, reports Efe news.

The other two remaining cases of the 99 announced on Sunday were locals from the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

Coronavirus cases imported into the mainland from abroad has sparked a wave of concerns in China.

Beijing had put a temporary ban on the entry of foreign citizens into the country on March 28. However, the restriction has not been able to contain the number of imported cases that currently stands at 1,280.

Many Chinese have returned home from abroad since the pandemic originated in the country last December.

This has led to a rise in the number of imported cases in the last few weeks as many had travelled from other hotspots of the virus.

Meanwhile, the number of patients cured and discharged stands at 50 in the 24 hours from Saturday morning along with the 99 new infections, thus taking the number of active cases in the country to 1,138.

This broke the trend of continuous decline in the number of COVID-19 positive cases.

It also marked the second day since April 6, after official statistics began in late January, when no COVID-19 fatalities occurred across the country.

The total number of infections recorded in the country since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at 82,052 along with 3,339 deaths.

On March 12, the Chinese government said that the peak of infection had ended in the country.