BEIJING - Mainland China reported 2,228 new confirmed coronavirus cases on March 18, the country's national health authority said on Saturday, compared with 2,416 a day earlier.

Of the new cases, 2,157 were locally transmitted, the National Health Commission said, compared with 2,388 a day earlier.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, stood at 1,823 compared with 1,904 a day earlier.

There were two new deaths, raising the death toll to 4,638.

As of March 18, mainland China had confirmed 128,462 cases.

(Reporting by Zoey Zhang and Engen Tham in Shanghai; Editing by Edmund Klamann)