China has ousted high-ranking officials in its Hubei province amid widespread outcry over the continuing coronavirus outbreak.

Several Communist Party officials, including the party secretary for the Hubei Health Commission and the head of the commission, lost their jobs in the government purge, accordin to the BBC.

As of Monday, the disease has killed more than 1,000 people and infected over 42,000 others.

News of the firing comes as China’s highest anti-corruption agency sent a team to Hubei to conduct an investigation after the death of doctor Li Wenliang, who tried to warn people about the virus but was censored.

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China has purged high-ranking officials in the Hubei – the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak – amid public outcry over the virus.

Several Communist Party officials, including the party secretary for the Hubei Health Commission and the head of the commission, lost their jobs in the government purge, the BBC reported citing local media.

According to the BBC, the deputy director of the local Red Cross was demoted for “dereliction of duty” over the handling of donations. The outlet reported that hundreds of people have been investigated, fired, or received warnings in Hubei because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The disease has killed more than 1,000 people and infected over 42,000. So far, cases have been reported in at least 25 other countries. A large majority of the deaths have occurred in the Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital.

Chinese authorities have quarantined Wuhan and about 15 other Chinese cities in order to curb the spread of disease, leading to a lockdown on an estimated 60 million people.

Both the death toll and the number of infected patients now exceed those of the 2003 SARS outbreak.

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News of the firing comes China’s highest anti-corruption agency, the National Supervisory Commission, announced that it was sending a team to Hubei to conduct an investigation after the death of doctor Li Wenliang, who was censored for talking about the coronavirus.

Li was reprimanded and silenced by the police in Wuhan and was made to sign a letter that said he was “making false comments.”

His death prompted widespread outcry and calls for free speech protection.