Shanghai reports deaths in current COVID outbreak
BEIJING – Shanghai authorities on Monday reported the first COVID-19 deaths in the latest outbreak in China’s most populous and wealthiest city.
All three people who died were elderly, had underlying diseases such as diabetes and hypertension and had not been vaccinated against the coronavirus, city Health Commission inspector Wu Ganyu told journalists.
“After entering hospital, their conditions grew worse and they died after attempts to save them were unsuccessful,” Wu said.
The deaths raise to 4,641 the number of people that China says have succumbed to the disease since the virus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019.
While China has an overall vaccination rate of around 90%, a low rate among the elderly remains a concern. Only 62% of Shanghai residents over age 60 have been vaccinated, according to the latest data available. Some experts say China needs to raise that rate before it can safely live with the virus.
While highly contagious, the omicron BA.2 variant driving the Shanghai outbreak is less lethal than the previous delta variant. However, China’s low death toll from COVID-19, which is blamed for more than 988,000 deaths in the United States, has raised questions about how China’s authoritarian and often highly secretive government counts such fatalities.
Most of Shanghai’s 25 million residents are being confined to their homes for a third week as China continues to employ a “zero-tolerance” strategy to curb the outbreak, demanding isolation of anyone possibly infected.
China on Monday said 23,362 people had tested positive for the virus over the previous 24 hours, most of them showing no symptoms and almost all of them in Shanghai.
Elsewhere
Police said Monday that they spoke to Scotland’s leader to remind her about sticking to coronavirus mask rules after she was filmed without a face covering indoors while on the election trail.
Police Scotland said officers reminded First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of the “importance of wearing a face covering when there is a legal requirement to do so.” The force said no further action would be taken.
Sturgeon was filmed without a mask at a barber shop in East Kilbride, near Glasgow, while campaigning. Sturgeon later apologized, saying that “after a few seconds of being in the shop, I realized I had forgotten to put my face covering back on. I then immediately put it on.”
h Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett is isolating at home after testing positive for COVID-19.
Hogsett said Sunday in a statement from the mayor’s office that after he began experiencing mild symptoms he took an at-home test and tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend.
“Thanks to my vaccine and booster shot, I am experiencing very minor symptoms, and continue to encourage all Indianapolis residents to get their vaccine to reduce their risk of serious illness,” the Democratic mayor said.
According to Hogsett’s Twitter account, he attended at least two community events on Saturday in which he interacted with numerous people.