蜜芽传媒

China has reported the deaths of three people from Covid in Shanghai for the first time since the financial hub entered lockdown in late March. A release from the city health commission said the victims were aged between 89 and 91 and unvaccinated. The city is now due to enter another round of mass testing, which means a strict lockdown will continue into a fourth week for most residents. Monday's deaths were also the first Covid-linked fatalities to be officially acknowledged by authorities in the entire country since March 2020.

James Mayger, China Economic Editor for Bloomberg, says that the number of deaths reported seem "somewhat suspicious", when compared with other countries that have seen high rates of infection such as the UK and US, given that there have been 171,000 cases reported in the last seven days. He believes that the government will continue its strict lockdown policy, despite the economic affect on the port, retail and the industrial sectors.

Photo: People line up for Covid-19 tests in a residential community under lockdown in Shanghai, China, 16 April 2022 Credit: EPA