Shanghai today announced three deaths from Covid-19, the first death since the Chinese city began a long-term quarantine that sparked anger and protests.

“The condition of three people worsened after they were hospitalized. They died after rescue efforts were ineffective,” the city said on social media.

The dead are two women, aged 89 and 91, and a man, 91, all three of whom had comorbidities such as heart problems, diabetes and high blood pressure, according to the local government.

Shanghai, China’s largest city of 25 million inhabitants, has been under lockdown since March, with the country’s most serious Covid-19 outbreak since the start of the pandemic.

The country’s major economic center has recorded 22,248 new local cases today, of which 2,417 are symptomatic, according to the municipal health commission.

The level of transmission is relatively low compared to other disease outbreaks around the world, but reflects a trend in recent weeks with tens of thousands of cases, most of them asymptomatic.

Authorities insist on maintaining a zero-tolerance policy for the virus, which includes restrictions on movement and isolation of infected people, including those who do not show symptoms.

Low vaccination rate

Residents of Shanghai, one of China’s wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities, criticize the restrictions for lack of food, inadequate conditions in quarantine centers and harsh enforcement of measures.

Many on social media criticized authorities after health workers killed a dog after its owners tested positive for COVID-19. They also question the policy of separating children diagnosed with coronavirus from their parents, although this measure has been relaxed.

In another display of dissatisfaction, videos posted on social media show some residents arguing with police officers in protective suits ordering their homes to be given to infected patients.

Other videos show the desperation of Shanghai’s people, including those jumping over barricades to demand food.

However, authorities do not plan to ease restrictions.

The health ministry says easing restrictions could saturate the hospital system and cause millions of deaths. And the vaccination rate is still low among the elderly: just over half of people over the age of 80 have received a booster dose.

sensitive year

The Chinese Communist Party is using the small number of deaths as a political argument, claiming that it prioritizes the lives of the population, not economic issues, unlike Western democracies, where the coronavirus has caused many deaths.

However, according to many analysts, political considerations are also involved. The party will host an important meeting at the end of 2022, when Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to win a third five-year term before formation.

“This is a sensitive and very important year for the regime,” said Lynette Ong, professor of political science at the University of Toronto (Canada).

Chinese authorities have reported only 4,641 deaths caused by the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic in late 2019; This is an extremely low number considering that China is the world’s most populous country (1.4 billion inhabitants).

China, the first country to detect the coronavirus, has minimized infections thanks to extensive testing, travel restrictions and targeted restrictions, as well as a ‘covid zero’ policy.

But the country has been struggling to contain outbreaks in many cities since the outbreak of the infectious omicron variant.

China recorded deaths from covid when two people died in Jilin city (northeast of the country) on March 19, the country’s first two deaths from the disease in more than a year.