China reported 38 more deaths from the new coronavirus but a fall in fresh cases for a third consecutive day, AFP reported.
The death toll nationwide is now 2,981, the National Health Commission said, with more than 80,200 people infected in total.
There were 115 new cases in central Hubei province — the epicentre where the virus first emerged in December last year — and only four elsewhere in the country.
The figures in China have generally been declining in recent weeks as a series of draconian quarantine measures seem to be paying off.
But there are mounting concerns about infections being brought back into the country from other global hotspots.
