People line up to receive nucleic acid test in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
At least three officials from Shijiazhuang, capital city of North China's Hebei Province, were suspended or removed from their posts for poor response to the epidemic. The city has reported 26 confirmed cases, and another 19 infections that were found after mass testing are waiting to be confirmed.

Jia Guang, the deputy head of Shenze county, was suspended. Jia Weidong, the head of health department of Shenze county, and Gao Haixia, the Party chief of Daqiaotou township, were removed from their post. 

Previously, at least 10 officials in China were dismissed amid latest COVID-19 spike, including officials from Xining city in Northwest China's Qinghai Province, the China-Mongolia border city in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Northwest China's Gansu province.

On Tuesday, Shijiangzhuang reported 14 confirmed cases, 11 of which are from Shenze County and three from Jinzhou, bringing the total confirmed cases to 26. 

Another 19 residents tested positive for COVID-19 in the second round of mass nucleic acid tests. Eight of them were from quarantined venues and another 11 were detected from epidemic restricted zones. Their final test results are still being processed. 

Shijiazhuang entered "emergency status" for COVID-19 prevention on Tuesday. 

Entry and exit points of Shenze County and Jinzhou city, both under Shijiazhuang, were under control. 

Shenze County released a notice on October 31 requiring all residents to stay indoors and take nucleic acid tests.

Global Times