BEIJING -- By the end of Friday, the latest COVID-19 resurgence in China had spread to 14 provinces, where new locally transmitted cases or asymptomatic carriers were reported during the past 14 days, a health official said Saturday.

The epidemic prevention and control situation is grim and complicated as infections are still spreading rapidly, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference.

China's top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan, however, said on Saturday that the country will be able to effectively contain the latest COVID-19 resurgence within a month.

The Chinese mainland on Friday reported 59 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 19 new imported cases, according to the NHC daily report.