China had detected 48 COVID-19 variants of concern from Dec 1 to Thursday, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday evening.

The positivity rate for COVID-19 disease has been falling since early January and dropped to 3.8 percent in the ninth week of this year, that is, from Feb 26 to March 5.

Meanwhile, the positivity rate for influenza flu remained low until early February but has been trending upward since then to reach 41.6 percent from Feb 26 to March 5, it said.