Taipei, May 31 (CNA) Taiwan reported no new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus on Sunday, leaving the total number of cases at 442 since the pandemic began late last year, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

During a special press briefing in Tainan to help promote local tourism, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, who also heads the CECC, said Sunday was also the 49th consecutive day with no domestically transmitted infections.

"Today marks the seventh week with no domestic infections," Chen said.

The last time Taiwan recorded a domestic infection was April 12, according to the CECC.

It was also the second consecutive day with no new imported infections. The last imported infection, confirmed on Friday, was a man in his 20s who went to study in Russia in February and returned to Taiwan on Tuesday.

To date, 351 of Taiwan's 442 cases of COVID-19 have been classified as imported, while 55 are believed to be local infections, according to CECC statistics.

The other 36 cases were aboard a Navy vessel that was on a goodwill mission in the Pacific in March. The CECC has said those cases originated in Taiwan, but declined to include them in the local infections category.

A total of 423 COVID-19 patients in Taiwan have recovered, seven have died, and 12 continue to receive treatment in hospital, according to the CECC.

"We wish the remaining 12 patients a swift recovery and good health," Chen said.

Globally, COVID-19 has infected 6,069,754 people in 187 countries and regions, including 1,798,791 in the United States, 465,166 in Brazil, 396,575 in Russia, 272,82 in the United Kingdom, and 239,228 in Spain, with a total of 367,999 fatalities, according to CECC statistics as of Sunday.