KUNMING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Yunnan Province has punished several officials over a case of intercepting a batch of masks amid the fight of the novel coronavirus earlier this month, local disciplinary authorities said Monday.
Gao Zhihong, Party chief of Dali City, was dismissed, according to the CPC provincial commission of discipline inspection and supervision.
Du Shugan, mayor of Dali, and Lou Zenghui, deputy mayor of the city, were removed from their posts.
Two other officials in the city and three from the prefecture that administers the city were also given punishment ranging from inner-Party warning to admonition.
The masks, bound for neighboring Chongqing Municipality, were intercepted and requisitioned when they were transported via Dali city, prompting outrage across the country.
The city has apologized for the misconduct. On Feb. 6, Yang Yanchi, head of the health bureau of Dali, was dismissed over the case.
