Objective To explore epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) outside Wuhan. Methods Data of confirmed COVID-19 patients who were admitted to a hospital from January 22 to February 28, 2020 were collected, contact history of patients was inquired in detail, clinical characteristics, laboratory test results and imaging findings of imported and local cases were compared. Results A total of 32 confirmed COVID-19 patients were studied, including 14 cases (43.75%) of imported cases and 18 cases (56.25%) of local cases. 27 patients (84.38%) had definite contact history, 5 (15.62%) patients' contact history was unknown. Family clustering (66.67%) was the main transmission route. The median age of patients was 42 (32.5, 50.5) years old, 19 (59.37%) were female. The first symptoms were dry cough (n=23, 71.88%), fever (n=16, 50.00%) and expectoration (n=13, 40.63%). The median of incubation period was 6.5 (0, 9) days, the median from onset of first symptom to confirming diagnosis was 7 (4.5, 9) days, the median from confirming diagnosis to discharge was 12 (9, 16) days. The abnormal laboratory test indicator included the decrease in leukocyte count, absolute lymphocyte count, albumin, CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T lymphocyte count, as well as increase of C-reactive protein, D-dimer and fibrinogen. 81.25% (n=26) of patients had bilateral lung involvement. Difference in absolute lymphocyte count between imported cases and local cases was statistically significant (P=0.044), there was no significant difference in other laboratory test results (all P>0.05). 32 patients were all cured and discharged. Conclusion Epidemic of COVID-19 is in a low prevalence in this city, mainly manifested by transmission through familial clustering, there is no significant difference in clinical characteristics between imported cases and local cases.