Shanghai on Saturday released the results of the investigation and handling of issues related to the central quarantine station of Hua Ting Hotel & Towers in Xuhui District.
The location was cited by city officials in mid-March as the origin of the city’s recent COVID-19 outbreak, which led to a painful two-month lockdown.
Hua Ting Hotel & Towers was requested as a central quarantine site for incoming travelers and designated for emergencies on February 21.
As of March 2, there were repeated reports of abnormal nucleic acid test results among employees working at the site, which was classified as a medium-risk area on March 5.
A total of 62 COVID-19 infections have been linked to the hotel.
On March 13, Shanghai launched a special investigation into the Hua Ting Hotel & Towers centralized quarantine site, as epidemiological investigations and gene sequencing management indicated that the surge in COVID-19 cases in Shanghai was caused by the virus carried by imported cases that contaminated the country’s environment, resulting in local infection and transmission at Hua Ting Hotel & Towers.
The investigation found that the Xuhui County Party Committee, Xuhui County Government, Xuhui Health Commission, Xuhui Civil Affairs Bureau and other related units and cadres failed in their main epidemic prevention and control responsibilities, which led to loopholes in closed-loop management at the centralized quarantine site at Hua Ting Hotel & Towers, and superficial self-examination and remediation, which led to the infection site personnel and had serious consequences.
The incident left a huge impact and the lesson learned from the incident is profound.
The Xuhui County Party Committee and Xuhui County Government were ordered to submit a written apology and review to the town Party Committee and the town government.
The Shanghai Party leadership strongly criticized Cao Liqiang, the district Party secretary, and issued an intra-Party warning to Zhong Xiaoyong, deputy Party secretary and district head.
Gao Tian, deputy district head, received a severe reprimand from the CCP and was removed from his post, and Fang Lei, another deputy district head, was administratively demoted and removed from his post.
There were also 10 other responsible staff members who received various sanctions ranging from dismissal from Party posts to disciplinary sanctions and warning interviews.
On the same day, Xuhui authorities released the results of the investigation of recent infections at the Red Rose Beauty Salon. Three salon employees tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. The salon has 16 employees and 481 clients have been followed.
The Xuhui District attaches great importance to the situation and immediately launched an investigation.
According to the investigation, the Red Rose beauty salon failed to comply with relevant epidemic prevention and control requirements when it required employees to take nucleic acid testing every day and asked all customers scan the location code for verification and registration.
And the authorities responsible for market surveillance and the administrative authorities have not effectively fulfilled their surveillance functions.
Based on the results of the investigation, Xuhui District authorities ordered the Red Rose Beauty Salon closed for repairs.
Li Yan, president of the parent company of the salon, received a reprimand from the Party, and Han Xiaohui, general manager of the parent company, received a serious reprimand from the Party and was removed from his post.
Mao Jie, deputy director of the Xuhui Market Supervision and Administration Office, also received an intra-Party reprimand, while Shen Qiang, division head of the Xuhui Market Supervision and Administration Office, received a penalty for administrative error.
