China sacks officials in Hubei as coronavirus infections hit 68,500

A policeman wearing a face mask directs a bus at a tumor hospital newly designated to treat virus patients in Wuhan in Hubei. Several officials in Hubei, the Chinese province hardest-hit by the Covid -19 (coronavirus) outbreak, lost their jobs over their handling of the crisis as the number of infections in the country reached 68,500 on Sunday (Feb 16). - AP

WUHAN: Several officials in Hubei, the Chinese province hardest-hit by the Covid -19 (coronavirus) outbreak, lost their jobs over their handling of the crisis as the number of infections in the country reached 68,500 on Sunday (Feb 16).

Over 2,000 new infections were confirmed in the previous 24 hours, the National Health Commission said. Deaths from the Covid-19 disease now stand at 1,665, after 142 new deaths were recorded, 139 of them in Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak.