The Chinese mainland reported 427 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 47 deaths on Friday, bringing the number of total infections up to 79,521, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.

Among the 47 fatalities, 45 were reported in Hubei, the outbreak epicenter, one in Beijing and one in Henan province, the commission said, adding that the Chinese mainland also reported 248 new suspected cases.

On Friday, 2,885 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery, 10,193 people who had close contact with infected patients were freed from medical observation and the number of severe cases dropped by 288.

By the end of Friday, the Chinese mainland reported 39,002 recoveries, 2,835 deaths and 79,251 infections. The health authorities have also traced 658,587 people who had close contact with infected patients and 58,233 of them are still under medical observation.

Hong Kong has reported 94 confirmed cases by Friday with two deaths and 30 recoveries, Macao has reported 10 with eight recovered and discharged from hospitals, and Taiwan confirmed 34 cases with one death and nine discharged from hospitals.

Hubei province reported 423 new confirmed cases and 45 fatalities on Friday, with the majority of them in its capital city of Wuhan that had 420 new cases and 37 new deaths, bringing the two numbers in the province up to 66,337 and 2,727, according to the Hubei provincial health commission.

Wuhan, the hardest-hit area, had 420 new cases and 37 new deaths on Friday. The city has registered 48,557 confirmed cases and 2,169 deaths.

By the end of Friday, 28,895 patients were discharged from hospitals, with 17,552 of them in Wuhan. A total number of 31,064 patients are still under treatment, with 6,056 of them critically ill.

The province has traced 263,916 people with close contact and 39,303 of them are still under medical observation.

Hubei had 1,171 suspected cases as of Friday night.