BEIJING (REUTERS) - Mainland China reported on Friday (April 17) that new confirmed cases of the coronavirus fell to a two-week low, as infections involving travellers arriving from abroad sharply fell.

China recorded 26 new cases of the coronavirus in the mainland on Thursday, down from 46 cases a day earlier, according to the National Health Commission.

That was the lowest daily total since April 3.

Of the new cases on Thursday, 15 were imported infections, the lowest since March 17.

The remaining 11 confirmed cases were locally transmitted infections, down from 12 a day earlier.

The new local cases were in the provinces of Guangdong, Heilongjiang, Shandong and Liaoning.

That brings the total number of confirmed cases to 82,367 as of Thursday.

The number of new asymptomatic cases increased to 66 from 64 a day earlier.

China does not include patients with no clinical symptoms such as a cough or a fever in its tally of confirmed cases.

No new deaths were reported.