Shanghai Reports 7 More Covid Deaths Since Start of Lockdown

A police officer in a protective suit keeps watch on a street, as the second stage of a two-stage lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) begins in Shanghai, China April 1, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
A police officer in a protective suit keeps watch on a street, as the second stage of a two-stage lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) begins in Shanghai, China April 1, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
TT
20

Shanghai Reports 7 More Covid Deaths Since Start of Lockdown

A police officer in a protective suit keeps watch on a street, as the second stage of a two-stage lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) begins in Shanghai, China April 1, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
A police officer in a protective suit keeps watch on a street, as the second stage of a two-stage lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) begins in Shanghai, China April 1, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song

China reported seven more deaths from Covid-19 in Shanghai on Tuesday, after hundreds of thousands of cases in the metropolis during a weeks-long lockdown.

City authorities revealed the first deaths of this outbreak on Monday, with Tuesday's fatalities bringing the official toll to just 10, even as the virus continues to spread.

Beijing insists its zero-Covid policy of hard lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines has averted fatalities and the public health crises that have engulfed much of the rest of the world.

But some have cast doubt on official figures in a nation where the vast elderly population has a low vaccination rate.

By comparison, Hong Kong -- which also has a high number of unvaccinated elderly -- has tallied nearly 9,000 deaths among 1.18 million Covid-19 cases since the Omicron variant surged there in January.

Unverified social media posts have claimed Shanghai's deaths are going unreported, but the messages have been quickly scrubbed from the internet, AFP reported.

Shanghai health officials said Sunday that less than two-thirds of residents over 60 had received two Covid jabs and under 40 percent had received a booster.

The seven newly reported deaths were all unvaccinated patients, city health official Wu Qianyu told a press conference on Tuesday.

They were aged between 60 and 101, and suffered from underlying conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, according to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

The patients "became severely ill after admission to hospital, and died after ineffective rescue efforts, with the direct cause of death being underlying diseases", the commission said.

Shanghai logged more than 20,000 new and mostly asymptomatic Covid cases Tuesday, defying officials' efforts to stamp out the infection.

Many of the city's 25 million residents have been confined to their homes since March, with some flooding social media with complaints of food shortages, spartan quarantine conditions and heavy-handed enforcement.

Protest footage has circulated faster than government censors can delete it.

The country's zero-tolerance approach to Covid had largely slowed new cases to a trickle after the virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

But officials have scrambled in recent weeks to contain an outbreak spanning multiple regions, largely driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

By one estimate on Monday, around 350 million people in at least 44 cities are currently under some form of lockdown in China.



Türkiye Backs NATO's 5% Defense Spending Goal, Plans Nationwide Air Shield

NATO flag  (Reuters)
NATO flag (Reuters)
TT
20

Türkiye Backs NATO's 5% Defense Spending Goal, Plans Nationwide Air Shield

NATO flag  (Reuters)
NATO flag (Reuters)

Türkiye supports NATO's decision to more than double its defense spending target to 5% of GDP by 2035 and is already exceeding the previous 2% benchmark, a Turkish defense ministry source said on Thursday.

NATO allies on Wednesday agreed to raise their collective spending goal to 5% of gross domestic product over the next decade, citing the long-term threat posed by Russia and the need to strengthen civil and military resilience.

“Türkiye is above the 2% target criterion under the Defense Spending Pledge,” the source said. “As NATO’s second-largest army, Türkiye is among the top five contributors to the alliance’s operations and missions.”

The source said Türkiye had fulfilled all its NATO capability targets and was continuing to invest in defense industry development and research. It plans to expand a layered air defense network across the country, centered around its national "Steel Dome" project.

“We are investing in air defense systems, hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missile capabilities, unmanned land, sea and air systems, as well as next-generation aircraft carriers, frigates, and tanks,” the source said.

The new NATO target includes at least 3.5% of GDP for core defense spending, with the remainder to be spent on security-related infrastructure to improve civil preparedness and resilience.