Dozens of Chinese officials disciplined for the latest wave of Covid-19

Newspaper SCMP The latest wave of the pandemic caused by the more contagious Omicron strain has caused China to record more than 20,000 new infections across the country.

Although health officials admit most infections have few or no symptoms that make it difficult to detect, top leaders have warned officials that they will face challenges. severe punishment if caught negligently or not acting quickly to stop the epidemic.

This zero-tolerance stance prompted some local officials to take drastic action as cases began to rise.

SCMP said at least 74 officials have been fired or reprimanded for not fulfilling their duties during the current wave of infections.

Those include 14 city and public security officials who were fired in southern China’s Guangdong province, including the province’s deputy police chiefs and the security chiefs of Shenzhen and East China. Mandarin.

While the notices did not give details on why they were fired, an unnamed Guangdong official said they were disciplined for not detecting and quickly controlling the new outbreak in China. isolation facilities in Dongguan and Shenzhen.

Jilin Province also fired the top health official in the capital Changchun and the mayor of Jilin, the province’s second largest city, and 12 other officials for failing to control the spread of the virus in the province. which accounts for half of mainland China’s infections in the current outbreak.

The time when a series of cadres were disciplined coincided with a Politburo meeting on March 17, in which Chinese President Xi Jinping asked local authorities to apply a “No Covid” policy and prevent the spread of the virus. Stop the wave of infection as soon as possible.

Since the outbreak Covid-19 First in Wuhan, China fired or reprimanded more than 1,000 officials for failing to control the pandemic, including former party secretary of Hubei Jiang Chaoliang and provincial President Wang Xiaodong.