Beijing, Feb 3 (IANS): Chinese health authorities on Monday said it received reports of 2,829 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 57 deaths on Sunday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Among the deaths, 56 are in Hubei Province and one in southwest China's Chongqing, according to China's National Health Commission, Xinhua news agency reported.

Another 5,173 new suspected cases were reported on Sunday, said the commission.

Also on Sunday, 186 patients became seriously ill, and 147 people were discharged from hospital after recovery.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 17,205 by the end of Sunday, the commission said, noting that a total of 361 people had died of the disease.

The commission added that 2,296 patients remained in severe condition, and 21,558 people were suspected of being infected with the virus.

A total of 475 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

The commission said 189,583 close contacts had been traced, adding that among them, 10,055 were discharged from medical observation on Sunday, with 152,700 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Sunday, 15 confirmed cases had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), eight in the Macao SAR and ten in Taiwan.