People shop at a shopping mall in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin province, Jan 23, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China has steadily entered a new phase of COVID-19 prevention and control, which was downgraded under the management of Class B infectious diseases, a National Health Commission spokesperson said Thursday.

China's overall COVID-19 response situation is improving, with sporadic COVID-19 cases reported in parts of the country, said spokesperson Mi Feng at a press conference held by the State Council joint COVID-19 prevention and control mechanism.

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China has been optimizing COVID-19 prevention and control measures based on the evolving situation over the past more than three years and has succeeded in preventing the widespread prevalence of more virulent and fatal variants, Mi said.

As the global COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, China will further improve the Class B management measures, Mi said, adding that the country will enhance its epidemic surveillance and regular warning capacity, ensure COVID-19 prevention and control at places such as nursing homes and schools, and accelerate COVID-19 vaccination.

Chang Zhaorui, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that experts have concluded that the chances of new outbreaks occurring are small.

Only one local case of XBB.1.5, the result of contact with someone coming in from abroad, has been recorded since China downgraded COVID-19 to Class B management on Jan 8, she told a news conference on Thursday.

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Monitoring of close contacts did not result in the discovery of any secondary cases.

Individuals infected with the XBB.1.5 variant display similar symptoms to other strains of Omicron, and no increase in pathogenicity has been found, Chang said.