Shanghai reports first COVID deaths since lockdown

The Chinese financial hub of Shanghai said three people infected with COVID-19 died on Sunday.

It's the first time during the current outbreak that the city reported deaths among coronavirus patients.

Shanghai reported 19,831 new daily asymptomatic COVID-19 cases on April 17, down from 21,582 on the previous day.

New symptomatic cases stood at 2,417, down from 3,238.

The city has conducted more than 200 million nucleic acid tests since March 10 in a bid to curb China's biggest COVID-19 outbreak since the coronavirus was first discovered in Wuhan in late 2019.