Story By: Lee Bullen,Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Asia Wire Report

A Chinese official has been suspended for ignoring strict travel controls amid the COVID-19 outbreak after his son bragged on social media that he was benefiting from his dad’s position of “power” to move to another city.

Amid growing concerns over the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, several cities in the eastern Chinese province of Hubei have been locked down while many roads have been closed.

An alleged incident of a Chinese official taking advantage of his position has angered residents in the region after the man’s son bragged about it on social media.

According to reports, He Yanfang, the marketing director for the city of Jingzhou’s commerce department, arranged a car to take his son from the city of Tianmen to Jingzhou.

The son, identified as He Hao, wrote: “I never thought my dad had much power, he has been an official all his life and I had never benefited from it until this outbreak.

“When the province [authorities] shut the roads, he used his connections to send a car that picked me up from Tianmen and drove back to Jingzhou.”

Hao added that he had been quarantined in Tianmen City for 22 days. He said that his dad asked a contact there, who was permitted to carry important supplies, to transport him back to Jingzhou.

Following an online backlash, Hao has apologised for his post and promised to follow the law and “pay close attention to my speech and behaviour in future”.

Reports said that he also deleted all his previous posts and changed his username.

Meanwhile, his father has been suspended from his position as an investigation gets underway, according to local media.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.