Coronavirus: China sacks local officials as death toll passes 1,000
China has sacked a number of top officials over the coronavirus outbreak as the head of the World Health Organization labelled the disease “a very grave threat to the rest of the world”.
According to China’s anti-corruption watchdog, the head of the Hubei health commission, Zhang Jin, and director Liu Yingzi have both been removed for unspecified reasons.
The two officials will be replaced by Wang Hesheng, the deputy director of China’s national health commission.
The deputy director of the region’s Red Cross was also removed for “dereliction of duty” over the “handling of donations”.
China’s death toll from the outbreak has now risen to 1,017 after 103 more people died yesterday in Hubei province alone.
In total, 42,708 cases have been confirmed in China, although the number of new infections recorded on Monday had dropped nearly 20 per cent from the day before.
Officials in Wuhan, the virus’ epicentre, as well as surrounding Hubei province, have been under fire over their failure to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
The local government has been under particular pressure over its treatment of Li Wenliang, one of eight doctors accused of “spreading rumours” about the new flu-like virus at the end of last year.
Wenliang died on Friday after contracting the illness from a patient. Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, China’s ambassador to the UK laid the blame with local authorities, saying: “It was not the Chinese authorities – it was local”.
The news came after British national Steven Walsh, who is thought to have infected 11 other people after travelling to a French ski resort, said he had recovered from the illness.
In a statement, Walsh thanked the NHS for their care. He said:
“I was advised to attend an isolated room at hospital, despite showing no symptoms, and subsequently self-isolated at home as instructed.
“When the diagnosis was confirmed I was sent to an isolation unit in hospital, where I remain, and, as a precaution, my family was also asked to isolate themselves.”
There are now eight confirmed cases in the UK, two of which are understood to be GPs.