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.

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.