The Changsha railway station in Central China’s Hunan Province set up signs for passengers to scan their QR health codes on July 30, 2021. Photo: cnsphoto

At least 75 officials have been punished for failing to contain the latest surge in Delta variant cases in China, which has been put under control in 35 days. Experts said this result proves the effectiveness of China's anti-epidemic model.   

Since the first case was detected on July 20 at an airport in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province, the latest outbreak has affected more than 35 provinces and regions with more than 1,200 infections. With the number of daily new cases once exceeded 100, it is regarded as one of the widest outbreak in the country.

The accountability measures against officials started on July 31, when the director of the health commission of Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan Province and the Party Chief of the No.6 People's Hospital in the city, were removed from their positions. A COVID-19 infection broke out in the hospital and has affected 166 people as of Sunday. 

Some 20 officials in Zhangjiajie in Central China's Hunan Province, a hotspot of infections during the latest spike, were also held accountable for ineffective management in containing the epidemic. 

The level of officials who were held accountable in different regions is generally linked to the level of the outbreak and potential spillover to different regions. Among them, the Vice Mayor of Nanjing was the highest ranking administrative official and was given an administrative demerit record. A total of 19 officials in the city were punished. 

Heads of the Eastern Airports Group, the company that manages the Nanjing Lukou International Airport, are under probe for suspected serious disciplinary and legal violations. The move has sent a stern signal of the authorities' attitude against negligence of duty in epidemic prevention and control. 

Experts said the timely punishment for the incompetent officials in the epidemic control work is an appropriate action as the anti-epidemic battle does not tolerate loopholes, mistakes or neglect from those in charge of the tasks.

As the curve of domestic infections flattens, health and education authorities in China have rolled out specific measures to prevent COVID-19 flare-ups. These include targeting campuses as cities brace for the start of the new semester in September.

Teachers and students in kindergartens, schools and universities shall not visit medium- and high-risk regions and should report their temperature and coronavirus-related symptoms and register their travel history and QR health codes for 14 successive days before the new semester begins, according to a guideline recently released by the National Health Commission and the Ministry of Education.