A pair of local officials in Hubei province have been sacked following the tragic death of a teenager with cerebral palsy who was left at home alone after his father was quarantined on suspicion of having contracted the Wuhan coronavirus.

Yan Cheng, 16, was found dead in his family’s home on January 29 in Hong’an county’s Huahe township. Six days earlier, his father, Yan Xiaowen, and his younger brother had been taken away by local health authorities.

The three of them had returned to their home village from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, on January 17. Xiaowen then came down with a fever and went to a local health clinic for treatment.

With his son unable to take care of himself, Xiaowen feared what would happen and eventually resorted to making a public plea for help on Weibo.

“My older son Yan Cheng has cerebral palsy. He’s unable to move, speak, or look after himself,” he wrote. “He has already been at home by himself for six days with no one to bathe him or change his clothes and nothing to eat or drink.”

Not long after that plea was made, Yan Cheng was found dead. The exact circumstances surrounding his death still remain unclear.

Xiaowen posted screenshots showing that he had made 10 calls to the village party secretary on that day alone. He also claimed to have been told that officials had only dropped by twice to feed his son while he was in quarantine, once on January 24 and once on January 26.

The boy’s aunt said that she fed Yan Cheng three times during those six days that he was alone, explaining that her own poor health prevented her from going over more often.

She added that by January 28, the teenager’s condition had started to noticeably deteriorate.

While a full report has yet to be issued regarding this tragedy, it has now been announced that both the local party secretary and the mayor of the township have been removed from their posts.