China has confirmed seven additional COVID-19 deaths in the quarantined city of Shanghai a day after revealing the first fatalities from a weeks-long outbreak fueled by the Omicron variety.

Tuesday's deaths brought the city's total death toll to ten, with the illness spreading.

Beijing maintains that its zero COVID policy, which includes stringent lockdowns, mass testing, and lengthy quarantines, has resulted in fewer deaths and avoided the public health disasters that have overtaken most of the world.

However, some have questioned official data in a country where many people in their 60s and older have been hesitant to get vaccinated.

The first three verified deaths were older individuals who had not received a coronavirus vaccination.

The seven people who died on Tuesday were likewise unvaccinated, according to local health director Wu Qianyu. They ranged in age from 60 to 101. According to police, all deceased also suffered from ailments such as diabetes and heart problems.

The panel stated that the patients "became gravely ill following hospitalization and died as a result of ineffective rescue efforts, with underlying diseases serving as the direct cause of death" the panel stated.

Unverified social media posts claimed that the killings in Shanghai were being undetected. However, the messages were swiftly taken off the internet.

According to Shanghai health officials, less than two-thirds of citizens over the age of 60 received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccination, and less than 40% had received a booster.

On Tuesday, the east coast metropolis reported more than 20,000 new cases, the most of which were asymptomatic, even though many of the city's 25 million citizens have been confined to their homes since late March.

The city has reported over 300,000 cases of the Omicron wave, and on Sunday, a new temporary hospital with more than 7,000 beds opened its doors to patients with minimal or no signs of the sickness.

Since COVID-19 first arose in late 2019 in the central city of Wuhan, the country's zero-tolerance policy to the virus has mainly held it in control.

On the other hand, dealing with Omicron has proven more complex, with officials scrambling to suppress outbreaks across multiple regions.

According to one estimate released Monday, almost 350 million people in at least 44 locations in China are currently under some lockdown.

According to the state-run Global Times, residents of Beijing's capital have also been instructed to "remain put" during next month's Labor Day vacations. In contrast, indoor public spaces such as museums, art galleries, and theatres have been limited to 75% capacity.

Individuals returning from outside the city must also provide a negative nucleic acid test result obtained within the last 48 hours.