New Delhi

A hospital in Shanghai has told its staff to prepare for a 'tragic battle' against Covid amid a new wave of infections across China. Late Wednesday (December 21), the Shanghai Deji Hospital posted on its official WeChat account that there were about 5.43 million positive cases of the virus in Shanghai and that 12.5 million people in the city will get infected by the end of this year. 

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"This year's Christmas Eve, New Year's Day, and the Lunar New Year are destined to be unsafe," the hospital said, adding that in this tragic battle against Covid, the entire Greater Shanghai will fall. 

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"We will infect all the staff of the hospital! We will infect the whole family! Our patients will all be infected! We have no choice, and we cannot escape," the hospital said. 

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The post was no longer available on WeChat on Thursday afternoon, according to a report by news agency Reuters. 

Earlier this year, Shanghai's residents endured a two-month lockdown that ended in June. During these two months, hundreds of Covid patients died while hundreds and thousands were infected. 

As China battles a fresh surge in infections, many areas of Shanghai were almost as deserted on Thursday as they were during the lockdown. 

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Many residents are isolating themselves voluntarily and businesses have been forced to shut down due to staff falling ill. 

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On December 17, the local government asked the city's schools to hold online classes from December 19 to keep infections in control. 

Meanwhile, experts said on Thursday that China could see over a million Covid deaths next year given the relatively low rate of full vaccination among the country's elderly population. Citing government data, Reuters reported on Thursday that China's vaccination rate is more than 90%, but the rate of adults who received the booster dose dropped to 57.9% and to to 42.3% for people aged 80 and above. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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