Coronavirus infections in Shanghai hit 311 as five new cases confirmed

Five more coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the city, and another 31 suspected cases ruled out, the Shanghai Health Commission said on Wednesday afternoon.

So far, the city has reported a total of 311 infections and ruled out 1,340 suspected cases.

The five newly diagnosed patients are all Shanghai residents, who have local registered residency or stayed in the city for over six months. Three live in Putuo District and one each lives in Xuhui and Minhang districts.

Among the 311 confirmed patients, aged between 7 months and 88 years old, only one is still under investigation into how they became infected.

A total of 99 patients are from outside the city — 67 from Wuhan, 23 from other cities in Hubei Province, three from Jiangsu Province, two from Anhui Province, and one each from Heilongjiang, Hunan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.

The commission said 234 patients are stable, nine are in serious condition and 10 are critical. Fifty-seven patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital. There has been only one local fatality. Another 190 suspected cases are undergoing tests.

Zheng Jin, a spokeswoman for the commission, said most of the serious and critical patients are elderly people over 60 years old. They usually have conditions like cardiovascular diseases, tumors and chronic lung syndromes. 

Some young patients also have underlying conditions because of poor kidney function or obesity, which makes treatment more challenging, Zheng said. Medical experts from leading public hospitals have been dispatched to designated hospitals to support the treatment of serious and critical patients, she added.