China reports first Covid casualties after Shanghai lockdown

China has reported three casualties from Covid-19 in Shanghai for the first time since the financial hub entered lockdown in late March, BBC reports.

A release from the city health commission said the victims were aged between 89 and 91 and unvaccinated.

Shanghai officials said only 38% of residents over 60 are fully vaccinated.

The city is now due to enter another round of mass testing, which means a strict lockdown will continue into a fourth week for most residents.

Until now, China had maintained that no-one died of Covid in the city - a claim that has increasingly come into question.

Monday's deaths were also the first Covid-linked fatalities to be officially acknowledged by authorities in the entire country since March 2020.