China A series of Hubei officials "fell" in the midst of the complicated Covid-19 epidemic that appeared to be appeasing to the people and for economic purposes.

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Hubei Chiang Chao Liang on February 13 became the top official of the province to be sacked since the corona pneumonia outbreak (Covid-19) originated in Wuhan City, the capital of Ho province. North. Taking his place was Shanghai mayor Ung Dung Dung, an official identified as close ally of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Just two days earlier, Zhang Xun, party secretary of the Hubei Health Committee and Liu Yingzi, chairman of the committee, also had to leave his chair. Tang Chi Hong, chief of the Huanggang City Health Department in Hubei Province, was dismissed in late January for failing to understand the local Covid-19 epidemic.

Beijing's moves come against the backdrop of mainland China with 59,805 nCoV infections and 1,367 deaths. The data increased sharply after Hubei Province switched to the new calculation method, bringing clinically diagnosed cases of virus infection into the number of new cases. This resulted in an increase of 14,840 cases of nCoV-positive cases in Hubei after just one day, 10 times larger than the previous increase, to 48,206 cases.

The "blood transfusion" of the Hubei provincial leadership is considered Beijing's next step to alleviate public outrage about how the government handled the nCoV-led medical crisis. This measure also seems to be part of efforts to stabilize the economy.

"Beijing is increasingly impatient," an unnamed source familiar with the matter said. "The Lunar New Year holiday has ended. People begin to return to work in places like Guangdong and Shanghai, the main drivers of the economy. If Hubei cannot stop the epidemic, the plan will play out." China's development this year will be threatened. "

He said the central government wanted reliable officials to take over Hubei to better assess the status of the Covid-19 epidemic, thereby turning the tide.

"The elimination of Hubei's top health officials is just the beginning. They are directly responsible for dealing with the disease and apparently have failed, but not the only ones," the source added. .

Wang Xiaoping, vice chairman of the China National Health Commission, was appointed to take on the roles of both Mr. Zhang and Ms. Liu after the two were removed from office. Significant signs of the reform came last week, when Mr. Wang became a member of the Hubei Standing Committee, which made important local decisions.

General Secretary of the Central Politburo Tran Nhat Tam, another influential official in Beijing, was also sent to Hubei to coordinate the Covid-19 epidemic response.

People's outrage with the government became intense after the death of Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, one of the first to warn about nCoV. He was summoned by city officials and forced to sign the minutes with the content "spreading false information seriously disturbing social order".

Beijing seems extremely worried about Li's departure, as evidenced by the rapid dispatch of a leading investigative team from the National Supervisory Commission, the country's anticorruption super agency, to Hubei. Their task was to investigate the treatment process for the 34-year-old doctor, signaling many of Hubei's top officials might have to leave their seats.

In an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in late January, Wuhan mayor Zhou Qian Wang seemed to imply that Beijing was at least partly responsible for the shortcomings in the response. Covid-19 translation.

"As a local authority, we are not allowed to disclose information regarding the infection unless authorized, something many people were not aware of in the early stages," Mr. Zhou said. admits his handling of the crisis is "not good enough" and "is ready to resign, as long as it helps stop the spread of the virus".

Chen Nhat Tam, the official in charge of the epidemic in Hubei today, set up a group on WeChat, a social network with Wuhan authorities, to directly direct what he wanted to do, the Politburo Committee. Central said.

"Receiving all critical patients is the most urgent and important task. It is the key point, and the strict order. There is no room for agreement, no delay and justification", Mr. Chen said.

Wang Jiangyu, an expert at Hong Kong City University, said the crisis facing China has drawn public attention to the way the state apparatus operates and exposes "a lot of holes". .

In a Twitter post, Zhang Lifan, a political expert in Beijing, predicted the reform in Hubei and the removal of officials would continue. "They are scapegoats. This is just the beginning," Zhang said.