BEIJING — The COVID-19 situation has been fluctuating at a low level in China since the beginning of July, with resurgences reported in multiple places within a few areas, a Chinese health authority official said on July 21.

The epidemic has affected 78 cities in 21 provincial-level regions in the past week, said He Qinghua, an official with the disease control department of the National Health Commission, at a press conference.

Overall, resurgences in different localities have been brought under effective control in a short period of time, and the impact of the epidemic is limited, He said, noting that the capacity and efficiency of local epidemic response have been further improved.

With the rebound in COVID-19 infections around the world, coupled with the increasing flow of people during the summer vacation, the risk of local outbreaks will increase, resulting in a complex epidemic prevention and control situation, he added.

He urged resolute and fast actions in the wake of an outbreak to minimize its spread in the shortest possible time and prevent it from developing into large-scale resurgences.