China's COVID-19 cases fall below 1,000 for 1st time

 The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland fell below the 1,000 mark, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.

The Commission said that 959 cases were registered on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

By the end of Wednesday, more than half of the imported cases on the mainland had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the commission, at a press conference.

No new confirmed cases, new suspected cases or deaths were reported on Wednesday in the once hard-hit Hubei [rovince, Mi said.

As of Wednesday, a total of 69 patients were still being treated in Hubei, including two severe cases, and the overall confirmed cases in the province had reached 68,128, according to the Commission.

Also on Wednesday, the Chinese mainland reported six new imported cases, bringing the total number of imported cases to 1,616, it added.

The pandemic originated in the Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, last December.

As of Thursday, China reported for 83,876 coronavirus cases with 4,636 deaths, much less that other countries, including the US which now accounts for the highest number of infections and fatalities in the world. IANS