Citizens in Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province are receiving nucleic acid testing. Photo: IC

Twelve Party members and officials in Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province were punished for negligence of their duties when battling the resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic as the number of infections in the city totaled 542 as of Sunday.

Yangzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province, where there has been a spike of the COVID-19 epidemic since July 28, reported 18 new local infections on Saturday, bringing the total number of infections to 542, including 26 severe cases and 16 in a critical condition, the local health commission disclosed on Sunday. 

On Saturday evening, 12 local Party members and officials including Zhao Guoxiang, secretary of the Party committee of the Yangzhou health commission were punished.

Despite the number of confirmed cases reported daily in Yangzhou dropping from more than 50 to fewer than 20, there are still uncertainties in the development of the epidemic and epidemic prevention measures should not be relaxed, said Wang Jinsong, deputy director of Yangzhou Commission of Health on Sunday. He also stressed the requirement of tracing all close contacts of confirmed cases and placing them under quarantine. 

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) commented on its website that it is urgent to stop the epidemic in no time. Although the deadly Delta variant is the culprit in Yangzhou's epidemic flare-up, more attention should also be paid to the slack response and poor organization of some Party members and officials as well as some citizens who failed to adequately follow proper protective measures. 

According to CCDI, the epidemic in Yangzhou still remains at a "peak-flat period" which means the epidemic is still growing rapidly and the situation remains grim and complex, whereas the increase of infections is expected to remain relatively flat with strengthened prevention and control measures and multiple rounds of nucleic acid screening tests. 

As of Saturday, a total of 251 confirmed patients were receiving treatment at Yangzhou City No.3 People's Hospital, including 59 light cases, 172 average cases, 16 severe and 4 critical cases. Another 291 patients are being treated at the Tangshan branch of The Second Hospital of Nanjing, including 42 light cases, 227 average infections, 10 severe and 12 critical cases. 

Yangzhou has adjusted epidemic risk level in some regions since Saturday, with 10 high-risk areas and 27 medium-risk areas at present. 

Nucleic acid testing conducted in the key regions and among over 1.19 million key personnel in Yangzhou on Saturday showed all the COVID-19 positive infections came from personnel under quarantine. 

Global Times