Chinese mainland reports 2,999 new local confirmed COVID-19 cases

BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland on Wednesday reported 2,999 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 26,391 new asymptomatic carriers, according to the National Health Commission's report Thursday.

Of the new local confirmed cases, 2,573 were reported in Shanghai, 325 in Jilin, 47 in Guangdong, and nine each in Zhejiang and Fujian. The rest of the cases were reported in 14 other provincial-level regions, according to the commission.

Among the new asymptomatic carriers reported on Wednesday, 26,318 were local ones and 73 were imported ones, said the commission.

The new local asymptomatic cases include 25,146 in Shanghai and 674 in Jilin.

Wednesday also saw reports of 21 imported COVID-19 cases. No new suspected cases or deaths were reported on the day, according to the commission.

A total of 2,024 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery on Wednesday, and on the same day, 37,636 close contacts were released from medical observation.

As of Wednesday, 143,922 patients had been discharged from hospitals across the mainland after recovery, according to the commission.