Of the new cases, 18 involved travellers arriving from abroad, according to authorities.

Mainland China reported on Saturday 19 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, down from 31 a day earlier, including one new infection in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak in the country.

Of the new cases, 18 involved travellers arriving from abroad, the National Health Commission said in a statement. The new infections bring the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China to 81,639 as of Friday.

China also reported four new deaths, raising the death toll to 3,326 as of Friday.