Party chief in Inner Mongolia sacked over ‘insufficient’ Covid-19 response
- Chen Zhanyun has been removed as secretary of Ejina banner, a job he had been in for less than two months
- Over 9,400 tourists are stranded in the scenic area, where most cases in the latest outbreak have been reported
Chen Zhanyun, who had been in the job for less than two months, was sacked on Tuesday due to “insufficient” implementation of measures to control the latest wave of cases, Inner Mongolia Daily reported.
Dai Qin, party chief for the Alashan League – an administrative unit akin to a city that includes Ejina – will take over as acting banner party secretary, according to the report.
Most of the cases in the latest Covid-19 outbreak in China, which began on October 17, have been in the Inner Mongolia region. It has now spread to more than 10 provinces, with almost 100 locally transmitted infections as of Tuesday, most of them in Ejina banner, according to the regional health commission.
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Chen’s removal comes after at least six other Ejina officials were reprimanded for failing to uphold outbreak control measures. The banner’s health commission director, Qu Jianghui, has also been removed from his post, the local government said on Saturday.
Several banners within the Alashan League, including Ejina, have introduced strict measures to contain the outbreak, with at least 37 residential compounds locked down last week.
