The COVID-19 outbreak in China's largest metropolis of Shanghai remains "extremely grim" amid an ongoing lockdown confining around 26 million people to their homes, a city official said Tuesday. Most of eastern Shanghai, which was supposed to reopen last Friday, remained locked down along with the western half of the city. Outbreak driven by Omicron BA.2 variantShanghai has reported more than 73,000 positive COVID-19 infections since the resurgence of the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant in March. Gu said about 47,700 beds are available for COVID-19 patients, with another 30,000 beds to be ready soon. A rapid antigen test kit showing a negative result is seen on Tuesday during the lockdown in Shanghai.

Source: CBC News April 06, 2022 00:07 UTC