City improves services amid quarantines

The Tonghua city government in Jilin province apologized for unsatisfactory and insufficient service during residents' home quarantines, officials said on Sunday.

"Due to a shortage of staff members, local residents in recent days suffered great inconveniences and were unable to receive their daily necessities in time," Jiang Haiyan, the city's vice-mayor, said at a news conference on Sunday, adding that there is a sufficient supply of goods.

The city had improved its courier team by recruiting more volunteers since Saturday to speed up the free delivery of daily necessities to the residents, including vegetables and medicines, the city's epidemic prevention and control headquarters said on Sunday.

Residents can order such goods via mobile phone applications, and a volunteer will send them to community workers who will then deliver them to their homes. A hotline is also accessible for seniors to make orders.

The local government also began providing care packages containing a five-day supply of groceries to each household at half price till the end of lockdown.

COVID-19 infections have been occurring in Tonghua since Jan 12.As of Saturday, the city had reported 140 confirmed cases and 100 asymptomatic carriers, causing many residents to go into home quarantine.

The local government also punished 14 officials for failing to prevent and control its COVID-19 outbreak. Six city-level and eight lower-ranking officials were given punishment including removals from public posts and intra-Party warnings, the city's disciplinary watchdog said on Saturday.

Jilin reported 12 new locally transmitted confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the provincial total in the current outbreak to 206. It started when asymptomatic carriers arrived from neighboring Heilongjiang province, according to the provincial health commission.