Health officials in Shanghai, China, reported three new deaths, the first recorded as the first deaths from Covid-19 in nearly two years. The three people who died were not vaccinated against Covid-19, NPR said. The last reported Covid-19 death in the city was on April 8, 2020.
Shanghai reported 22,248 new local infections on Monday, according to China’s National Health Commission, with the outbreak in the region currently the worst in all of China. The vast majority of these infections are asymptomatic. Mainland China reported 1,104 new local infections outside Shanghai on Monday.
Shanghai residents are struggling with the latest quarantine that began in late March. Viral videos have surfaced showing healthcare workers beating residents for allegedly violating Covid protocols, and unconfirmed reports have even claimed pets of people who tested positive were killed.
The Chinese government is pursuing the controversial goal of completely eradicating Covid-19 from the country, rather than allowing it to circulate within the country. And while this strategy has probably saved millions of lives since the beginning of the epidemic, it severely hinders people’s ability to act freely.
The US reported 8,099 new cases last Sunday, with only four of the 50 states reporting their numbers over the Easter holiday, we can safely say that this number is not complete. The US currently averages 36,698 new cases per day, which is an understatement due to the large number of people who test positive at home and fail to report the results to local health commissions. The US experiences an average of 447 new Covid-19 deaths every day.
The US has reported more than 80.5 million cases of Covid-19 and more than 987,000 deaths since the outbreak began in early 2020. By contrast, China has only reported 4,641 deaths since the outbreak began.
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