COVID-19 has "basically ended" in China, but it is not "completely over" as there are still sporadic cases, Liang Wannian, head of the COVID-19 response expert panel at China's National Health Commission (NHC), said on Thursday. 

The COVID-19 pandemic remains to be a global health emergency since it was declared by the World Health Organization in 2020. 

"From a global perspective, the state of the pandemic still exists, and the harm of the disease still exists," Liang said at a press conference held by the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism. 

On January 8, China started managing COVID-19 with measures designed for combating Class B infectious diseases, shifting the focus of its COVID-19 response from infection control to prevention and treatment of severe cases. 

The country's COVID-19 response has made a smooth transition in a relatively short time, with more than 200 million people accessing medical services, nearly 800,000 severe cases receiving proper treatment, and the country's COVID-19 fatality rate remaining the world's lowest, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  

On February 16, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee declared that China has achieved a major and decisive victory in its COVID-19 prevention and control since November 2022. 

Speaking of understanding "decisive victory," Liang said it means that China has managed the challenge of COVID-19 and created "a relatively good" immunity barrier.  

From the perspective of public health, the infection rate, including cumulative and new cases, the immunity rate, the pathogen, the state of the medical system, and the overall disease control and prevention capability are important indicators to assess if the pandemic has passed, Liang said.  

"Judging from the characteristics of the epidemic itself, it can be said COVID-19 has basically ended but is not completely over," he said, adding there are sporadic cases reported in parts of the country. 

As the global COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, China will further improve the Class B management measures and ensure COVID-19 prevention and control at places such as nursing homes and schools, and accelerate COVID-19 vaccination, NHC spokesperson Mi Feng said.