Coronavirus: Shanghai logs record 39 deaths in latest outbreak while Beijing takes swift action to contain new infections

Name: Inside a Shanghai Covid-19 makeshift hospital where ‘lights are on all night’
Uploaded: 2022-04-24T06:38:42.000Z
Duration: 2 min 10 s
Description: Inside a Shanghai Covid-19 makeshift hospital where ‘lights are on all night’

A total of 21,058 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, 10 per cent less than a day earlier, according to data released on Sunday

‘Daily new cases must be handled on the same day and every patient should be given a timely treatment,’ said Sun Chunlan

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All of the reported 39 deaths in Shanghai, more than triple the number a day earlier, had underlying health issues Photo: Xinhua

Daniel Ren

Published: 2:38pm, 24 Apr 2022Updated: 1:18pm, 31 May 2022

Shanghai saw a record 39 fatalities from Covid-19 as Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan called for the timely treatment of patients, while a rash of new cases in Beijing prompted local authorities to step up measures to cut chains of transmission.

A total of 21,058 new cases in Shanghai were recorded in the last 24 hours, 10 per cent less than a day earlier, according to data released on Sunday. Symptomatic cases plunged by 49 per cent to 1,401. Cumulative infections since the outbreak began on March 1 topped 487,000.

Beijing, meanwhile, added 13 new cases as of 4pm on Sunday, which raised the total number of infections in the nation’s capital to 41 in the latest outbreak. Local health officials said the virus had been spreading undetected in the city for about a week.

“Each patient must be transferred [to hospitals or quarantine sites],” Sun, who has been in Shanghai to oversee its anti-pandemic work since April 2, told a meeting of officials on Saturday, according to a Shanghai government statement. “Daily new cases must be handled on the same day and every patient should be given a timely treatment.”

02:10

Inside a Shanghai Covid-19 makeshift hospital where ‘lights are on all night’

All of the 39 deaths in Shanghai, more than triple the number a day earlier, had underlying health issues including coronary syndrome, terminal cancer, cerebral infarction and Alzheimer’s disease. Their average age was 78.7 years, and the oldest was 98.

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