Shanghai punishes officials for causing infection risks at two places

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Jun 11, 2022 08:51 PM

Shanghai on Saturday issued the results of the investigation and handling of problems related to centralized quarantine site at Hua Ting Hotel & Towers in Xuhui district.

The venue was cited in mid-March by the municipal government as the origin of the city's recent COVID-19 flare-up that resulted in a painful two-month lockdown.

Hua Ting Hotel & Towers was requisitioned as a centralized quarantine site for inbound travelers and was designated for emergency use on February 21. Starting from March 2, there were successive reports of abnormal nucleic acid test results among the staff working at the site, which was classified as medium-risk area on March 5. A total of 62 COVID-19 infections have been linked back to the hotel.

On March 13, Shanghai launched a special investigation into the centralized quarantine site at Hua Ting Hotel & Towers as epidemiological investigations and gene sequencing alignment indicated that the surge of COVID-19 cases in Shanghai was caused by the virus carried by imported cases that contaminated the environment, causing local infections and transmission at the Hua Ting Hotel & Towers.

The investigation found that the Xuhui district Party committee, the Xuhui district government, the Xuhui health commission, the Xuhui civil affairs bureau and other units as well as related cadres had failed to implement their main responsibility of epidemic prevention and control, leading to loopholes in the close-loop management at the centralized quarantine site at Hua Ting Hotel & Towers in addition to superficial self-examination and rectification, which led to staff infections at the site and resulting in serious consequences. The incident has left a tremendous influence, and the lesson from the incident is profound.

The Xuhui district Party committee and the Xuhui district government were ordered to produce a written apology and review to the municipal Party committee and the municipal government. The Shanghai Party authorities severely criticized Cao Liqiang, the district Party secretary, and issued an intra-Party warning to Zhong Xiaoyong, deputy Party secretary and head of the district. Gao Tian, deputy head of the district, received a serious intra-Party warning and was removed from the post, and Fang Lei, another deputy head of the district, was given an administrative demotion and was removed from the post. There were also other 10 responsible personnel given different punishment ranged from dismissal from Party posts to disciplinary punishment and exhortation talks.

On the same day, Xuhui authorities published the investigation results into the latest infections at the Red Rose Beauty Parlor. Three employees from the parlor were found to be COVID-19 positive on Thursday. The parlor has 16 employees, and 481 customers have been traced.

The Xuhui district attached great importance to the situation and launched an investigation immediately. According to the investigation, the Red Rose Beauty Parlor failed to abide by relevant epidemic prevention and control requirements when it comes to asking employees to take nucleic acid test every day and asking all customers to scan the place code for verification and registration. And the relevant market supervision and administration authorities failed to effectively carry out its supervision duties.

So based on the investigation results, the Xuhui district authorities ordered the Red Rose Beauty Parlor to shut down for rectification. Li Yan, chairman of the parent company of the parlor, was given an intra-Party warning, and Han Xiaohui, general manager of the parent company, received a serious intra-Party warning and was removed from the post. Mao Jie, the deputy director of the Xuhui market supervision and administration bureau was also given an intra-Party warning, while Shen Qiang, division director of the Xuhui market supervision and administration authorities, was given the punishment of an administrative demerit recording.