Shanghai, China’s largest city and hardest hit by the latest Covid epidemic, has announced another round of mass virus testing, due to end on Thursday (April 21st).
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BEIJING – The city of Shanghai announced on Monday its first Covid-related deaths since the latest wave of blockades began in late March.
Three people died on Sunday, the city said, attributing the deaths to existing health conditions. The official statement said all three were adults and had not been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Beijing is trying to increase the vaccination rate against Covid among the country’s older population. As of April 11, about 224.8 million people over the age of 60 had been vaccinated, according to the National Health Commission.
That’s about 85% of the age group, based on the 2020 census, which shows the country has more than 260 million people over the age of 60. As of April 11, approximately 90.8% of the country’s 1.41 billion people had been vaccinated, according to the health commission.
Anecdotally, at least one neighborhood in the capital, Beijing, said anyone over the age of 60 who received their first injection of Covid could receive a prize equivalent to about $ 70 to $ 80.
The latest Covid wave in China – the worst since the initial shock of the pandemic in early 2020 – began in late February and stems from the high-transmitting omicron variant. The only other deaths officially reported in the latest wave were two in the northern province of Jilin on March 18th.
On Sunday, Shanghai reported 2,417 new confirmed cases of Covid with symptoms and 19,831 without.
Shanghai, China’s largest city, began a two-stage blockade and mass testing of viruses in late March, which was due to end in just over a week. But municipal officials have not yet set a date when they will end widespread travel restrictions and orders to stay home.
On Monday, the city said it would begin another round of mass virus tests, due to end on Thursday.
Outside of Shanghai, mainland China reported about 300 other confirmed new cases of symptoms on Sunday, in regions ranging from Jilin to southern Guangdong. Beijing has reported three such cases.
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