China confirms 427 new COVID-19 cases

China confirmed 427 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, up from 327 the previous day. The National Health Commission's spokesperson Mi Feng also reported 47 more deaths. On the whole, the country has recently seen a slowdown in new infections.

The number of new cases has remained under 500 for the past four days, with almost all in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged, and surrounding Hubei province. In total, Mainland China has confirmed 79,251 cases.

Meanwhile, the list of countries touched by the illness climbed to nearly 60 as Mexico, Belarus, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Iceland and the Netherlands reported their first cases.

More than 83,000 people worldwide have contracted the illness, with deaths topping 2,800.