China reports 45 new coronavirus cases, five deaths

China has reported 45 new coronavirus cases including one locally transmitted case while the death toll due to COVID-19 reached 3,300 with five new fatalities, health officials said Sunday.

The new domestically transmitted case was reported in Henan province on Saturday, the country's National Health Commission (NHC) said.

The five new fatalities were all reported from the epicentre Hubei province, taking the death toll to 3,300, it said.

With 44 new imported cases, their number has gone up to 693, the NHS said.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland has reached 81,439 by the end of Saturday. This included 3,300 people who have died, 2,691 patients still undergoing treatment and 75,448 others discharged after treatment.

The condition of the 742 people in hospital is severe, the NHS said, adding that 174 people are still suspected of being infected with the virus.

By the end of Saturday, 582 confirmed cases including four deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, 37 in Macao and 283 in Taiwan including two deaths, it said.

As the coronavirus began abating in its epicentre Hubei and its capital Wuhan, China has gradually began opening up the region lifting the lockdown which was imposed on January 23.

China has also cancelled visas for foreigners, restricted international flights, imposed strict quarantine procedures for people returning from abroad to prevent the second wave of the coronavirus attack in the country.

According to multiple reports, more than 30,000 people have died due to the disease across over 170 countries. Italy has the highest number of deaths at 9,134, followed by Spain 5,138 and China 3,174.

The United States leads in the number of COVID-19 with 104,007 infections confirmed so far, followed by Italy (86,498) and China (81,906).