BEIJING, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authorities Wednesday said it received reports of 2,015 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 97 deaths on Tuesday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Among the deaths, 94 were in Hubei Province and one in Henan, Hunan and Chongqing respectively, according to China's National Health Commission.

Another 3,342 new suspected cases were reported Tuesday, said the commission.

Also on Tuesday, 871 patients became seriously ill, while 744 people were discharged from hospital after recovery.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 44,653 by the end of Tuesday, and 1,113 people had died of the disease.

The commission added that 8,204 patients remained in severe condition, and 16,067 people were suspected of being infected with the virus.

A total of 4,740 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

The commission said 451,462 close contacts had been traced, adding that among them, 30,068 were discharged from medical observation Tuesday, with 185,037 others still under medical observation.

By the end of Tuesday, 49 confirmed cases including one death had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 18 in Taiwan.

One patient in Macao and one in Taiwan have been discharged from hospital after recovery.  ■