China reports 24 new COVID-19 cases vs. 22 a day earlier

BEIJING (Reuters) - Mainland China reported 24 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 2, up from 22 cases a day earlier, the national health authority said on Sunday.

The National Health Commission said in a statement that 16 of the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas.

Of the eight locally transmitted cases, four were found in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, two in Liaoning, one in the capital city of Beijing and one in Hebei.

The authority also reported eight asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, compared to 21 a day earlier.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 87,117, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

(Reporting by Muyu Xu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Daniel Wallis)