Shanghai extends lockdown amid 'dire' COVID-19 outbreak

BEIJING (AP) — The COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, China's largest metropolis, remains "extremely dire" and is keeping its 26 million people in quarantine, a local official said Tuesday. The outbreak in the city "remains at a high level," said the director of the Shanghai epidemic control task force, Gu Honghui, in statements collected by state media. "The situation is extremely dire," Gu said. China has sent more than 10,000 health workers from across the country to help the city, including 2,000 military personnel, and is mass-testing residents, some of whom have been confined for weeks. Most of eastern Shanghai, which…