Shanghai Logs Seven New Covid Deaths

Shanghai on Tuesday reported seven more Covid-related deaths.

Officials said the new deaths were all elderly patients who were unvaccinated and suffering from other illnesses.

“These people were suffering from the complications of underlying diseases, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, et cetera,” said Wu Qianyu from the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

The city’s daily coronavirus figure, meanwhile, edged down to 20,416 – more than 3,000 of them reported having symptoms.

Nationwide, a total of 21,600 new cases have been reported – with more than 470 from Jilin province.

As authorities continue their effort to rein in the outbreak, a mainland epidemiologist again rebuffed criticism of the nation’s “dynamic zero” policy.

In a social media post, the chief epidemiology expert of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Wu Zhunyou, said there had been "misunderstanding" on the strategy.

“The principle of 'dynamic zero' is to prevent the virus from taking roots by fighting the virus as soon as an outbreak is discovered,” he wrote.

Instead of taking a toll on regional growth, he said there would be no economic impact if transmissions come under control early.

“Some people think that ‘dynamic zero’ is linked to huge economic impact,” he wrote.

“But in fact, 'dynamic zero' is the way to provide the biggest protection for economic development.”