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Coronavirus

Shanghai becomes China's COVID epicenter as cases surge

Financial hub denies 'rumors' of plans for a citywide lockdown

A delivery worker passes food to a woman over the barriers of an area in Shanghai under lockdown. The financial hub recorded its highest daily infections this week.   © Reuters

SHANGHAI - Shanghai resembled a ghost town Friday as rolling lockdowns shuttered neighborhoods across the financial hub of 25 million people, which has quickly become the epicenter of China's worst coronavirus outbreak.

The city's whack-a-mole approach to clamping down on infections, a linchpin of Beijing's zero-COVID policy, left some hospitals dangerously short-staffed as personnel were shifted to conduct mass-testing across the metropolis, which posted its highest-ever daily caseload this week.

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