BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's National Health Commission said Friday that it received reports of 12 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Thursday, including one locally transmitted case and 11 imported ones.

The locally transmitted case was reported in Sichuan Province, said the commission in its daily report.

Of the 11 newly imported cases, four each were reported in Shanghai and Shandong, and one each were reported in Shanxi, Henan and Yunnan on Thursday.

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

A total of nine COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery on the Chinese mainland on Thursday.

By the end of Thursday, a total of 4,079 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Among them, 3,817 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 262 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 86,789 by Thursday, including 304 patients still receiving treatment.

A total of 81,851 patients had been discharged from hospitals following recovery on the mainland, and 4,634 had died of the virus, according to the report.

There were four suspected COVID-19 cases on the mainland on Thursday, and 890,102 close contacts remained under medical observation.

Thursday also saw 11 newly reported asymptomatic cases on the mainland. On the same day, one imported asymptomatic case was re-categorized as a confirmed one.

A total of 198 asymptomatic cases were under medical observation, out of which 178 were imported cases, the commission said.

By the end of Thursday, 7,899 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 125 deaths, had been reported in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), while 46 confirmed cases had been reported in Macao SAR, and 757 cases, including seven deaths, in Taiwan.

Altogether 6,534 COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, while 46 had been discharged from hospitals in Macao SAR, and 616 in Taiwan.