As a resurgent COVID-19 wreaks havoc in China, more than 70 officials have been let go as a “punishment” in the past one month for failing to control the virus.
China has been witnessing a spurt in Covid cases owing to the more contagious Omicron variant.
According to South China Morning Post, top leaders have warned officials that strict action would be taken if they fail to act swiftly.
The warning comes even as health officials have acknowledged that most of the infections showed little or no symptoms making their detection difficult, the newspaper reported.
The newspaper claimed that at least 74 officials have been sacked or reprimanded for failing to do their duty during the current wave.
Meanwhile, China reported over 4,700 new infections on Tuesday, with the bulk of cases being recorded from the northeastern province of Jilin, where more than 9 million people have been placed under lockdown.
Jilin has mostly banned trips both outside the province and from region to region within the province, and residents who have to travel must notify the police.
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The number of local symptomatic cases in Jilin’s provincial capital of Changchun has increased for five days in a row and hit a record on March 21.
In Shenyang, an industrial base home to factories including carmaker BMW, 47 new cases were reported on Tuesday as authorities put all housing compounds under “closed management” and barred residents from leaving without a 48-hour negative test result.
In China’s financial hub Shanghai, 865 domestically transmitted asymptomatic infections were reported on Monday, an increase from 734 a day earlier, reports Reuters citing the official data.
Although small compared with the number of infections in many outbreaks overseas, the rise is significant as Shanghai redoubles its efforts to implement China’s “dynamic clearance” policy designed to curb each flare-up.
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The city is pressing ahead with a block by block testing scheme after already completing more than 30 million tests.
The southern tech powerhouse of Shenzhen on Monday announced it would lift its week-long lockdown “in an orderly manner”, after having partially eased measures on Friday to minimise the impact of virus shutdowns on factories and ports.
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(With inputs from agencies)
