Despite following a stringent and weeks-long lockdown, Shanghai reported seven Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total number of fatalities in the city to 17.

To counteract the outbreak, the government has set rigorous travel restrictions and repeated rounds of mass testing. The fast-spreading Omicron variant has caused a dramatic rise in cases in the 25-million-strong city. On Wednesday, the city recorded more than 18,000 new coronavirus cases, the majority of which were asymptomatic.

On Monday, the city reported its first Covid deaths. According to city officials, all the seven patients who died recently had underlying diseases such as lung cancer and diabetes and five of the patients were over the age of 70.

Since January, more than 400,000 infections have been detected in Shanghai. Hong Kongwhich also has a large proportion of unvaccinated elderly reported approximately 9,000 deaths out of 1.18 million known cases. Beijing claimed that its zero-Covid policy of strict curfews, extensive testing, and extended quarantines has prevented deaths and public health disasters.However, the most recent lockdowns have disrupted supply lines, causing businesses to halt production. (NDTV, April 20, 2022)