New infections of the novel coronavirus on the Chinese mainland numbered 19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 80,754, the National Health Commission announced on Tuesday.

Of those new infections, 17 were reported in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province and  center of the epidemic.

The other two infections were found in Beijing and Guangdong province. Both were imported from other virus-hit countries.

As of Monday at midnight, the commission reported 17 new deaths, bringing the total to 3,136.

All  new deaths were in Hubei, according to the commission. Of them, 16 were reported in Wuhan.

Another 36 new suspected cases have been reported, the commission said. On the same day, a total of 1,297 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery.

The commission added the number of patients in severe condition had been reduced by 317 over the past 24 hours.

It also revealed 675,338 close contacts had been traced. On Monday, 4,148 were discharged from medical observation. Another 16,982 close contacts are still under observation.

Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have reported a total of 170 confirmed cases, with three deaths in Hong Kong and one death in Taiwan, according to the commission.

In Hubei, the total confirmed cases reached 67,760 as of Monday at midnight. Of these, about three quarters were reported in Wuhan.

The province has seen a total death toll of 3,024.

It also reported 1,152 new recovery cases in the province on the same day. A total of 4,701 patients are still in severe condition.