The closure has caused a heavy economic and social damage
Shanghai:
China reported seven Covid-19 deaths in Shanghai on Wednesday, bringing the city’s toll to 17 as authorities struggled to contain the infection despite The lockdown lasted for weeks.
The rapidly spreading Omicron coronavirus variant has caused a spike in cases in the city of 25 million, and the government has imposed tight movement restrictions and mass testing to combat the outbreak. broadcast.
The closures have taken a heavy economic and social toll, with residents voicing outrage on social media over food shortages and lack of access to medical care. economy is not of Covid.
The city government said the seven new deaths reported were from underlying conditions such as lung cancer and diabetes. Five patients are people over 70 years old.
The Shanghai government said the patients “became severe after admission and died after ineffective rescue efforts, with the immediate cause of death being pre-existing medical conditions”.
The city reported more than 18,000 cases of the new coronavirus and most were asymptomatic as of Wednesday.
More than 400,000 infections have been reported in Shanghai since March, and the city reported its first death from Covid on Monday.
The official death toll remains low compared with reported cases, but some have cast doubt on these numbers, suggesting low vaccination rates among China’s elderly population.
By comparison, Hong Kong – which also has a high number of unvaccinated elderly people – has recorded nearly 9,000 deaths out of 1.18 million known cases since Omicron surged in January.
Beijing insists its policy of lockdown, mass testing and prolonged isolation has prevented the deaths and public health crises seen in many other parts of the world.
However, the latest lockdowns have clogged supply chains, forcing businesses to halt production.
Authorities have called for a “white list” of key industries and companies so production can resume, with more than 600 companies identified to soon resume work in Shanghai. Sea.
US electric vehicle giant Tesla has “officially resumed production” on Tuesday, state media reported, after suspending work at its “gigafactory” in the city for more than 20 days.
However, the resumption will take place in a “closed-loop system,” with employees sleeping on site and being tested for Covid, Bloomberg News reported.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from the syndication feed.)
