More than 30 Chinese officials have been sacked or received other punishments over accusations they failed to respond properly to the latest surge of the coronavirus in the country.

Among those removed from their posts were a vice mayor, heads of city districts and health commissions, and staff in hospital management, airport and tourism departments.

China’s National Health Commission announced 94 new cases of domestic transmission had been recorded over the previous 24 hours.

The latest outbreak is linked to the airport in the eastern city of Nanjing.

The highly contagious Delta variant spread among airport workers and has since spread from tropical Hainan province in the south to Inner Mongolia in the far north.

The outbreak has prompted renewed travel restrictions, community lockdowns and the sealing off of the entire city of Zhangjiajie, with a population of 1.5 million.