China removes 3 Tibet health officials from posts over Covid-19

China removed three health officials in Tibet from their posts for failing to prevent the spread of the recent Covid-19 outbreak.

The sacked officials include the party secretary and director of the municipal health commission of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, as well as the party secretary of the city’s center for disease control and prevention, according to a statement published by the local government on Sunday (Aug 14).

The dismissals were the result of the officials “failing to implement Covid prevention and control work well”, according to the statement.

Tibet last Monday reported four Covid-19 infections.

It was the first sign of the virus in the isolated region since a single case was found at the start of the pandemic in January 2020.

On Friday, Lhasa, currently under partial lockdown, logged 81 local cases.

The mountainous region is building new facilities that will provide 2,000 beds in Lhasa and 1,000 in the city of Shigatse.

A team of health experts from Beijing has arrived to support containment measures.

Covid-19 cases have also started rebounding in other parts of China in recent days.

Shanghai reported five local infections for Saturday, inching up from four a day earlier.

Sanya, a popular tourist destination in the southern Hainan island, recorded 1,088 cases, down from 1,232 on Friday.

Haikou, the capital of Hainan, extended a lockdown from 7am till 8pm local time on Sunday to conduct its seventh city-wide Covid-19 test.

The western region of Xinjiang reported 398 local infections for Saturday, an increase from 336 a day earlier.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES