Coronavirus: Beijing purges Communist Party heads in Hubei over ‘botched’ outbreak response in provincial capital of Wuhan
- Provincial party secretary is highest-ranking political casualty so far of botched virus response
- Former Shanghai mayor and close ally of President Xi Jinping takes his place
The Communist Party leader of the city of Wuhan, Ma Guoqiang, 56, also lost his job, Xinhua said. He will be replaced by Wang Zhonglin, 57, the party secretary of the city of Jinan, in the eastern province of Shandong.
Another Beijing heavyweight, Chen Yixin, was flown into Hubei last week. He is chief of the party’s top law enforcement body – the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission – and is now in charge of handling the outbreak. The virus is believed to have originated from a live animal and seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei’s capital city.
News of the reshuffle coincided with a State Council meeting on Thursday in which it was announced the draconian control measures currently in place in Wuhan – the epicentre of the outbreak – would be expanded to other Hubei cities including Huanggang and Xiaogan.
“Hubei province and Wuhan must further strengthened management and control over exits from the areas … to put a stop to the spread [of the disease],” state broadcaster CCTV quoted a read out of the meeting as saying.