Coronavirus Cases Continue To Surge In Shanghai

The number of coronavirus cases in Shanghai continued to spike on Thursday, as authorities reported 19,660 new local asymptomatic infections.

There were also 322 symptomatic cases – up from 311 recorded the previous day.

Tens of thousands of medical staff have now been deployed to Shanghai to fight the Omicron outbreak, as the city’s 26-million people remain locked down for another round of PCR or rapid antigen tests.

At a news conference, Shanghai’s vice mayor Chen Tong admitted that the delivery of daily necessities to citizens have been disrupted as shops, supermarkets and markets are unable to operate normally.

He said authorities will do all they can to ensure residents have the supplies they need.

Meanwhile, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who’s in Shanghai overseeing the city’s anti-epidemic efforts, said authorities have to speed up works to build isolation and quarantine facilities for Covid patients and their close contacts.

She added that Shanghai must also continue to live up to its role as the country’s economic, financial, trade and maritime centre.

Infections in Shanghai have pushed the country’s daily tally of local asymptomatic cases past 20,000.

The National Health Commission said a total of 21,700 people tested positive for Covid-19 without showing symptoms – up from 19,089 reported the previous day.

But the number of symptomatic cases dropped to 1,284 from 1,383, with more than two-thirds of infections coming from Jilin province.

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