Mainland China has reported zero new domestic infections of coronavirus for the first time since the outbreak was first reported in the country last December, the National Health Commission said on Thursday (19 March).

The Commission said it was also the first time that Hubei province, where the disease first emerged in its capital Wuhan, recorded no new cases either domestically or from abroad, reports the South China Morning Post.

Nationwide, there were 34 new infections, all of them from overseas.

The number of new deaths was down to single digits, with just eight reported, bringing the total toll to 3,245.

The Commission said 23 new suspected cases had been reported, with the total number of infections now standing at 80,928.

A total of 70,420 patients have recovered.

Elsewhere, infections from what is now a global pandemic continue to rise.

Italy, the worst-hit country outside China, reported 3,526 new cases overnight, taking the total number of infections to 35,713. The death toll stood at 2,978.

In the US, there were over 8,700 confirmed cases and more than 130 people have died due to the disease.

Globally, the number of confirmed cases were 208,512, with 8,821 deaths. These figures include the China numbers.

This news has been published via Syndicate feed. Only the headline has been changed.