SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Twelve people died of COVID-19 infections in Shanghai on Friday, down from 11 the day before, health authorities in China’s largest city said on Saturday as people are exasperated by restrictions introduced to stem the spread of the virus.
The anger of the inhabitants of Shanghai, faced with draconian measures, has not weakened in recent days without encouraging the authorities to lighten these devices which aim to eradicate the virus.
“The more difficult the period, the more you will have to grit your teeth and hunker down,” said Gong Zheng, the city’s mayor, as quoted by the official government channel WeChat.
Outside the areas subject to strict quarantine, the number of positive diagnoses came out on Friday 218 against 250 the day before.
According to Liang Wannian, who heads the expert council at the National Health Commission, the so-called “zero COVID” policies are buying time for the government to prepare for an amplification of the vaccination campaign.
Shanghai and its residents have been under strict confirmation since April 1, but some of them have been locked down for longer, without stopping the virus from continuing to spread.
(Report David Stanway and Wang Jing; French version Nicolas Delame)