Top Chinese doctor says ‘up to 70% of Shanghai residents infected with Covid’

China is currently battling with an increase in infections after the relaxation of its ‘zero-Covid’ measures.

The government’s abrupt U-turn on December 7, and the accuracy of its case and mortality data, have come under increasing scrutiny at home and abroad, with a number of countries imposing restrictions on citizens.

Hospitals and crematoriums have been overwhelmed quickly, and concerns grow about the spread of the virus, but official data is still patchy.

Chen Erzhen, vice president at Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai, estimated that most of the the megacity’s 25 million people may have been infected.

‘Now the spread of the epidemic in Shanghai is very wide,’ he told Dajiangdong Studio, owned by the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily.

‘It may have reached 70% of the population, which is 20 to 30 times more than (in April and May).’

Shanghai suffered a gruelling two-month lockdown from April, during which more than 600,000 residents were infected and thousands were forced into quarantine centres.

WHO has urged Chinese health officials to regularly share specific and real-time information on the outbreak.

The global body has invited Chinese scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing at a technical advisory group meeting today.

It has also asked its government to share data on hospitalisations, deaths and vaccinations.

Three new Covid deaths were reported on Monday, taking the official death toll since the pandemic began to 5,253.

Source” Content adapted from metro