SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Mainland China reported 47 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Oct. 28, up from 42 a day earlier and marking the highest daily increase in more than two months, the country's national health authority said on Thursday.
Of the new cases, 23 were local infections in Xinjiang involving previously asymptomatic patients following a mass infection reported in Kashgar. The rest were imported infections originating from overseas.
The increase in confirmed COVID-19 infections marks the highest since 49 cases were reported for Aug. 9, but still at a small fraction of what the country saw at the height of the epidemic in February. The total number of new asymptomatic cases fell to 16 from 38 a day earlier.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 85,915, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.
(Reporting by Jing Wang and Josh Horwitz; writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
