ANKARA/BEIJING 

China’s National Health Commission said Saturday no new domestic cases of the virus known as COVID-19 has been found in the last three days.

The 41 new cases recorded Thursday were detected in passengers coming from abroad, according to a statement by the commission that said the number of "imported cases” increased to 269.

- COVID-19 checkpoints removed in Wuhan

Officials began removing COVID-19 checkpoints in Wuhan, where the outbreak began, because domestic cases have not seen, according to the South China Morning Post.

Residents celebrated the move with fireworks and some are suspicious about the reliability of the number of the cases.

- Coronavirus claims 7 lives since Friday

Seven patients died since Friday because of the virus taking the death toll to 3,255 in China.

Health officials said two of the three deaths were reported in Wuhan, where the infection was first reported last December.

The total number of the cases in China reached 81,304.

China imposed a lockdown on Wuhan on Jan. 23 to stem the spread of the virus It spread to at least 167 countries and territories. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide has surpasses 303,000, while the death toll nears 13,000 but more than 91,600 have recovered, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin