The Chinese Communist party has removed its top health officials in Hubei, the central Chinese province that is the centre of a new coronavirus outbreak, marking the most senior officials to be relieved from their post since the public health crisis began.
The provincial health commission’s Communist party secretary Zhang Jin and the commission director Liu Yingzi were both stripped of their positions, China’s state broadcaster reported on Tuesday.
The two positions would both be filled by Wang Hesheng, a former deputy of China’s national health commission and a member of the emergency response group who has been parachuted in from Beijing to help tackle the virus.