BEIJING — Chinese health authority said on July 9 that it received reports of nine new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland July 8 and all of them were imported.

Of the nine new imported cases, three were reported in Liaoning and Shanghai each, two in Guangdong and one in Sichuan, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

No new deaths related to the disease or new suspected cases were reported.

On July 8, 42 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery.

By the end of July 8, a total of 1,958 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Of them, 1,884 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 74 remained hospitalized, with no one in serious conditions. No deaths from the imported cases had been reported.

As of July 9, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 83,581 including 357 patients who were still being treated, with five in severe conditions.

Altogether 78,590 people had been discharged after recovery, and 4,634 had died of the disease on the mainland, the commission said.

The commission said five people, including two from outside the mainland, were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

According to the commission, 3,840 close contacts were still under medical observation after 706 people were discharged from medical observation on July 8.

Also on July 8, six new asymptomatic cases, including five from outside the mainland, were reported and one asymptomatic case was re-categorized as a confirmed case.

The commission said 112 asymptomatic cases, including 79 from outside the mainland, were still under medical observation.

By July 8, 1,323 confirmed cases including seven deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 46 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 449 in Taiwan including seven deaths.

A total of 1,167 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR, 45 in the Macao SAR, and 438 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.