China reports decline in new coronavirus cases

China's new confirmed coronavirus cases dropped to 12 with eight of them reported from Chinese nationals coming from abroad, taking the total tally to 82,747, health officials said on Monday.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,747 by Sunday, including 4,632 people died of the disease, 1,031 patients still being treated and 77,084 others who had been discharged after recovery.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Monday that 12 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in the country on Sunday, of which eight were imported indicating a drop in the recent cases.

The other four new cases were domestically transmitted, the NHC said in its daily report, noting that three cases were reported in Heilongjiang Province and one in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

No death was reported Sunday on the mainland.

As of Sunday, China has a total of 1,583 imported cases with 841 were being treated with 43 in severe condition, the NHC said.

Also on Sunday, 49 new asymptomatic cases, including five from abroad, were reported in the country, the NHC said, adding that 990 asymptomatic cases, including 184 from abroad, were still under medical observation.

Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested positive for the coronavirus but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. They are infectious and pose a risk of spreading to others.

By Sunday, 1,025 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in Hong Kong, 45 confirmed cases in the Macao and 420 in Taiwan including six deaths.

Globally, more than 165,000 people have died and over 2.4 million people have been infected by the coronavirus, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University.