Passengers maintain social distancing onboard a subway train in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, April 22, 2020. (SHEN BOHAN / XINHUA)

BEIJING/WUHAN/HARBIN - China has seen its current number of confirmed COVID-19 cases drop to 959 on Wednesday, the first time the number falls below 1,000, the National Health Commission said Thursday.

By the end of Wednesday, more than half of the imported cases in China have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the commission, at the press conference.

The commission said in its daily report Thursday that it received reports of 10 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland Wednesday, of which six were imported.

The other four new cases were domestically transmitted, the commission said, noting that three cases were reported in Heilongjiang province and the other one in Guangdong province.

By the end of Wednesday, more than half of the imported cases in China have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission said

No deaths or suspected cases were reported Wednesday on the mainland.

According to the commission, 56 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery Wednesday, while the number of severe cases dropped by 15 to 63.

As of Wednesday, the mainland had reported a total of 1,616 imported cases. Of the cases, 823 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 793 were being treated with 37 in severe conditions, said the commission.

No deaths from the imported cases had been reported, it added.

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The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,798 by Wednesday, including 959 patients who were still being treated and 77,207 people who had been discharged after recovery, the commission said.

Altogether 4,632 people had died of the disease, it said.

The commission said that 20 people, including 16 from abroad, were still suspected of being infected with the virus.　

It added that 8,429 close contacts were still under medical observation. On Wednesday, 824 people were discharged from medical observation.

Also on Wednesday, 27 new asymptomatic cases, including one from abroad, were reported on the mainland. Three domestic asymptomatic cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases, and 31 people, seven of whom were from abroad, were discharged from medical observation, according to the commission.

As of Wednesday, the mainland had reported a total of 1,616 imported cases

The commission said 984 suspected asymptomatic cases, including 166 from abroad, were still under medical observation.

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By Wednesday, 1,033 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 45 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 426 in Taiwan including six deaths.

A total of 678 patients in Hong Kong, 26 in Macao and 236 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery. 

Heilongjiang

In addition to the three new domestic cases, Heilongjiang also reported one new imported case, the provincial health commission said Thursday.

Heilongjiang reported one new imported cases and three new domestic cases, the provincial health commission said

The new imported case involved a Chinese national returning from Russia.

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By Wednesday, the province had reported a total of 540 locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 385 imported cases.

On Wednesday, Heilongjiang saw no new imported asymptomatic cases. The province had a total of 26 imported asymptomatic cases by Wednesday.

Hubei

No new confirmed cases and deaths were reported in central China's Hubei province on Wednesday, local health authorities said Thursday.

By the end of Wednesday, the province had 546 asymptomatic cases under medical observation, after 21 new such cases were reported and 23 were ruled out on Wednesday.

The provincial health commission said 28 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospital after recovery on Wednesday, all of whom were in the provincial capital of Wuhan.

Sixty-nine patients remained in hospital in the province, including two severe cases.

By Wednesday, Hubei has reported 68,128 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total, including 50,333 in Wuhan.