The Chinese mainland reported 24 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, seven locally transmitted and 17 imported, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday.

Medical workers carry out door-to-door nucleic acid sampling on the elderly who have difficulty in moving in Shunyi District of Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 28, 2020. (Photo: AP)

Five locally transmitted cases were detected in Liaoning and one each in Beijing and Heilongjiang. Seven new imported cases were reported in Shanghai, three in Tianjin, and two each in Inner Mongolia and Fujian, one each in Zhejiang, Shandong and Guangdong, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

A total of 3,978 imported cases had been discharged from hospitals after recovery while 269 remained hospitalized, including three in severe conditions, the commission said.