China has punished dozens of officials for failing to control the Delta outbreak

China has punished more than 40 local officials for failing to control a spiraling Delta variant outbreak, as authorities scramble to curb the worst resurgence of Covid-19 the country has seen in over a year. The current outbreak, which first emerged in the eastern city of Nanjing, has spread to over half of China's 31 provinces and caused more than 1,000 symptomatic infections in three weeks, according to a CNN tally of the National Health Commission's daily reports.

Authorities have rushed to impose stringent lockdowns, mass testing, extensive quarantine and travel restrictions -- a strict playbook it has previously used to swiftly stamp out sporadic flare-ups. Such measures have been deployed at a scale and intensity unseen in China since the initial outbreak in early 2020. Those officials who failed to implement the measures promptly or thoroughly enough are now finding themselves facing disciplinary actions.

Across the country, at least 47 officials, ranging from the heads of local governments, health commissions, hospitals and airports, have been punished for negligence, according to official statements and state media reports. In Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province,15 officials were held accountable for allowing infections to spread at the Nanjing Lukou International Airport, according to a statement from the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

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