A task force to investigate possible negligence among Guangzhou officials was formed Monday by China investigators looking into the Covid-19 outbreak.
Composed of municipal and provincial Communist Party officials, the investigation will be in accordance with regulations, party discipline and law "to hold negligent senior cadres and officials to account," the South China Morning Post said.
The country's central Communist party prioritized the prevention of outbreaks ahead of its centenary next month and a session in 2022 that could see a leadership revamp.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization chief Tedros Ghebreyesus has called on China to cooperate with the inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 in the wake of renewed calls for further investigation.
"We'll need cooperation from the China side. We need transparency to understand or know or find the origin of this virus," Ghebreyesus said.
South China's Guangdong Province reported 4 local transmissions of #COVID19 on Sunday, all from Guangzhou, including 2 medical workers. All other medical personnel and environmental samples from the hospital tested negative, according to local health authorities. pic.twitter.com/RnpCASlIhm — China News 中国新闻网 (@Echinanews) June 14, 2021
In other developments, Australia's Victoria state Monday recorded two new Covid-19 cases on the last day of a long weekend.
Health officials confirmed the new cases recorded in the 24 hours to midnight were both primary close contacts of existing cases, according to 7News.
There are now around 2,000 active primary close contacts in the state, but Health Minister Martin Foley said that figure was now in a "downward trajectory" and Melbourne is on course to loosen more pandemic restrictions this week.
In Indonesia, a city is bringing Covid-19 vaccines to its people with a growing fleet of vaccination buses, as the country faces a spike in infections following the Eid al-Fitr festival.
Health officials in Sumatra have doubled to 10 the number of buses in its immunization campaign, since launching it June 1, after favorable feedback from the public.
Authorities say the buses have given 12,000 doses of China's Sinovac vaccine and are administering more than 1,000 shots per day.
In Thailand, health officials are currently battling a third wave of the virus that began in April. This wave was responsible for more than 80% of the country's 193,105 confirmed cases and 90% of 1,431 related fatalities
With only 2% of its population fully immunized, the Thailand government is facing mounting criticism for its pandemic response.
In the Philippines, officials confirmed 7,302 new Covid-19 cases Sunday, bringing the country's total to 1,315,639.
Only 4% of the Philippines' approximately 110 million people have been given at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as of June 6, and only 1.4% have received a second shot, Al Jazeera reported.
"A lot of Filipinos have reservations about getting vaccinated due, in part, to fears about the side effects," congresswoman Camille Villar told Al Jazeera.
Worldwide Covid-19 has sickened more than 175.6 million people, and 3.79 million have died from the virus since it was first reported in Wuhan, China in late 2019, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said.
