A staff member checks the information of a passenger entering China at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, March 19, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

Shanghai will lower its public health emergency response to the COVID-19 epidemic from the highest to the second-highest level on Mar 24, according to the Shanghai municipal government.

The government announced that the decision to do so is due to the fact that there have not been new confirmed cases from the local society since Mar 3.

The government added that it will continue to attach great importance to the prevention and control of the epidemic, with a particular focus on the imported cases.