Coronavirus: Shanghai reports record 3,590 symptomatic cases as China’s largest economy buckles under lockdown
- Shanghai reported 3,590 symptomatic cases on Saturday, out of 23,513 infections
- China’s financial and commercial centre is still locked down as it grapples with skyrocketing case counts, which number about 326,000 since March 1
Shanghai reported a record 3,590 symptomatic cases on Saturday, as China’s financial capital remains under lockdown amid the country’s worst Covid-19 outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic.
The number of symptomatic cases climbed 12.2 per cent, with new infections reaching 23,513, according to data covering the previous 24 hours released on Saturday. That brings total infections since March 1 to about 326,000.
Among the new cases, 13 were classified as “severe”, with the youngest being a 33-year-old, according to officials at an online press conference. The other severe cases were unvaccinated people aged 70 to 93 years old. No one has died from the disease yet in the current outbreak.
The continued rise of infections in the city has upended tens of thousands of businesses and the daily lives of the city’s 25 million residents. As the largest contributor to China’s annual gross domestic product, Shanghai is proving the biggest test yet for the country’s zero-Covid policy.
Shanghai, the epicentre of China’s latest coronavirus outbreak, went into a citywide lockdown on April 5, reversing an earlier plan for a two-phase quarantine for both sides of the Huangpu River – Pudong and Puxi – which was expected to end that day.