BEIJING, Jan. 31 -- Chinese health authorities announced Friday that 9,692 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps by the end of Thursday. A total of 213 people have died of the disease.

The National Health Commission said in its daily report that 1,527 patients remained in critical conditions, and 15,238 people were suspected of being infected with the virus as of the end of Thursday.

A total of 171 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

Thursday saw 1,982 new confirmed cases, 4,812 new suspected cases, and 43 deaths -- 42 in Hubei Province and one in Heilongjiang Province.

Also on Thursday, 157 patients became seriously ill, and 47 people were discharged from hospital after recovery.

A total of 113,579 close contacts had been traced, the commission said, adding that among them, 4,201 were discharged from medical observation on Thursday, with 102,427 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Thursday, 12 confirmed cases had been reported in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, seven in Macao Special Administrative Region and nine in Taiwan.