SHANGHAI -- Comprehensive research and judgment by experts have shown that the risk of transmission in communities has been effectively curbed in Shanghai, an official told a press conference on Sunday.

Gu Honghui, deputy secretary-general of the municipal government, said that the epidemic situation in Shanghai is now improving steadily, as transmission chains have been virtually cut off in six districts, including Fengxian, Jinshan, Chongming, Qingpu, Songjiang, and Putuo.

Gu added that Shanghai would continue its large-scale nucleic acid testing work in the following week, based on the city's three-tiered classification of COVID-19 risk areas according to recent nucleic acid screening results.

Shanghai reported 788 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 7,084 local asymptomatic infection cases on Saturday, the municipal health commission said Sunday.