A child wearing a protective face mask to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus plays with bubbles next to a masked woman as they walk along a pavement in Beijing, Tuesday. (AP)

China, where the deadly coronavirus first emerged in December last, reported just one COVID-19 case, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Saturday. The death toll remained at 4,633 with no new fatality.

As of Friday, the total confirmed cases on the mainland were 82,875. As many as 77,685 patients have been recovered, the NHC said.

One new imported coronavirus case was reported on Friday with no new local infection, it said.

China has reported a total of 1,671 imported COVID-19 cases, including seven in critical condition.

The Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, have not reported any coronavirus case for 28 consecutive days since April 4, local health commission said on Saturday.

Hubei also lowered its COVID-19 emergency response from the highest level to the second-highest on Saturday. The lowering of the emergency level shows a major breakthrough in Hubei’s prevention and control against the coronavirus, Hubei Vice-Governor Yang Yunyan told media.

Meanwhile, 20 new asymptomatic cases were reported on Friday, taking the total number of such patients to 989.

Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested COVID-19 positive but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. However, they pose a risk of spreading the disease to others.