Tang Zhihong, director of the health commission of Huanggang city, Hubei province, was removed from the post on Thursday night. Huanggang government said.

Earlier on Thursday, people were outraged by video of her being unable to answer the basic question on the city's capacity to control the novel coronavirus outbreak when asked by inspection officers.

Huanggang has become the second worst hit area in Hubei since the outbreak started in the provincial capital of Hubei. By 6pm on Thursday, 496 cases were confirmed and 12 of them had died.

On Wednesday, the inspection team sent by the central government inspected health procedure of the city.

When questioned by the inspection officers about the number of patients that are being treated at the local hospitals and how many sample tests can be made, Tang first didn't response. After the insprection officials further pushed her for the answer, she admitted that she didn't know of the numbers, according to the footage, which soon went viral online.

People were outraged. Many said it is unbelievable to see Tang know so little about the epidemic during the crucial time of keeping it under control. They also asked her to step down.