China on Tuesday reported no new coronavirus deaths in the past day, for the first time since Jan. 19, as the city of Wuhan prepared to lift its last lockdown measures.

There were also no new locally transmitted infections in Hubei province, home to Wuhan, and across mainland China, the National Health Commission said.

Authorities reported 32 new coronavirus cases among citizens returning from abroad.

The commission said 30 new cases of asymptomatic infections were being monitored, with a total of 1,033 such cases under medical observation.

The novel strain of coronavirus jumped from an unknown animal species to the human population in Wuhan in December.

Wuhan, the Chinese metropolis at the origin of the novel coronavirus pandemic, is due this week to lift the final restrictions after more than two and a half months of stringent lockdown.

From midnight on Wednesday, traffic will return to normal. Flights are also due to resume, cars will be able to leave the city again, and people can travel by train, on the condition that they are healthy and have had no recent contact with infected patients.

The resumption of ordinary life in the city of 11 million people is seen as an important signal for China that the worst of the crisis is over.

Of the more than 80,000 officially registered cases in China, 50,000 were in Wuhan alone. The metropolis accounts for more than 2,500 of the country's 3,300 listed COVID-19 deaths. Observers believe, however, that many cases have not been included in those numbers.