SHANGHAI, April 19 — China reported seven new deaths from Covid-19 in Shanghai today, raising the official toll after hundreds of thousands of cases in the metropolis during a weeks-long lockdown. City authorities revealed the first virus deaths yesterday, with today's fatalities bringing...
SHANGHAI, April 19 — China reported seven new deaths from Covid-19 in Shanghai today, raising the official toll after hundreds of thousands of cases in the metropolis during a weeks-long lockdown.
Beijing insists its zero-Covid policy of hard lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines has averted fatalities and the public health crises that have engulfed much of the rest of the world. Unverified social media posts have also claimed unreported deaths — typically before being scrubbed from the internet. Hong Kong, meanwhile, has attributed nearly 9,000 deaths to Covid-19 since the Omicron variant surged there in January.
The patients “became severely ill after admission to hospital, and died after ineffective rescue efforts, with the direct cause of death being underlying diseases”, the commission said.Many of Shanghai’s 25 million residents have been confined to their homes since March as daily caseloads have topped 25,000 — a modest figure by global standards but virtually unheard of in China.