BEIJING — China's epidemic prevention and control situation continues to improve, recording some major progress for the current stage, a health commission spokesperson said on March 13.

The Chinese mainland reported eight new confirmed cases on March 12, with five in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, at a press conference in Beijing.

All of the three new cases outside Hubei province were imported from outside the mainland, bringing the total number of imported cases to 88, Mi said.

As of March 12, a total of 21 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps had seen no new indigenous cases for more than 14 days, while six provincial-level regions had reported no new indigenous cases for more than a week, Mi said.