China reports 3 deaths from latest COVID outbreak in Shanghai

China has reported three fatalities due to COVID-19 in Shanghai for the first time since the financial center went into lockdown at the end of March. A statement from the city’s health commission said the victims were between the ages of 89 and 91 and not vaccinated.

Shanghai authorities have indicated that only 38% of residents over the age of 60 are fully vaccinated. The city now has to undertake another round of mass testing, which means a strict lockdown will continue into the fourth week for most residents.

So far, China has maintained that no one died of COVID in the city, which is increasingly being questioned. The deaths on Monday were also the first COVID-19-related deaths to be formally recognized by authorities across the country since March 2020. The announcement comes at a strange time.