The coronavirus death toll in China reached 425 as of Monday, rising a record 64 from the previous day, said the National Health Commission (NHC) on Tuesday, adding that it has received 3,235 new cases of confirmed infections in the last 24 hours.

The total number of infections in China rose on Tuesday to 20,438. So far, 221,015 people have been identified as having had close contact with infected patients, NHC said, noting that 171,329 are now under medical observation. On Feb 3, 12,755 people were freed from observation, it added.

There still remained 23,214 suspected cases and 2,788 patients in serious condition.

Thirty-one provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported 3,235 new cases of confirmed infections (including 2,345 in Hubei province), 5,072 new cases of suspected infections (including 3,182 in Hubei province), 492 new serious cases (including 442 in Hubei province), and 64 deaths (including 64 in Hubei province). A total of 157 patients were released from hospitals after being cured, including 101 in Hubei province.

Meanwhile, confirmed infections had been reported in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan province: 15 in Hong Kong, 8 in Macao and 10 in Taiwan, NHC said.

However, Hong Kong reported its first coronavirus death on Tuesday, marking the second death outside mainland China, according to a Reuters report.