(ECNS) -- China reported 522,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in July, including 487 severe cases and one death, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) said Thursday. 

The positivity rate among influenza-like illness cases at sentinel hospitals rose from 8.2% in late June to 21.2% by early August.

China CDC said the latest increase remained a cyclical fluctuation comparable in intensity with those of the previous two years. The current surge has slowed and entered a plateau, with most cases mild and disease severity unchanged.

Monitoring has found no variants posing a major public health risk and no noticeable impact on the overall operation of medical services.

（By Helen Mo, intern Yang Hongran）