BEIJING (REUTERS) - The head of the Communist Party in the Chinese province of Hubei, the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than a thousand people, has been relieved of duty, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday (Feb 13).

Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong has been appointed as the new secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, replacing Jiang Chaoliang, the report said, citing the party's central committee.