Two hospitals in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, have been ordered to suspend operations for three months of rectification and improvement because of their delays in diagnosing and treating acute and critical patients earlier this month.

The city health commission said in a statement posted on its website that Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital and Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital will only be allowed to reopen when they pass examinations and inspections by authorities after three months of rectification.

Both hospitals failed to implement the "people first and life first" principle in their medical treatment work, with a weak sense of responsibility, and they failed to perform the duty of "healing the wounded and rescuing the dying" during the recent COVID-19 outbreak in the city, it said.

They also failed to implement core medical quality management systems, including first diagnosis responsibility and the emergency rescue of critically ill patients, sparking widespread concerns among residents and having a very bad impact on society, it said.

Social media posts said a woman who was eight months pregnant miscarried after she was refused admittance to Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital because her nucleic acid test result was four hours out of date, and a man from a medium-risk area who was having a heart attack earlier this month was refused entry by Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital and died later.

The general manager of Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital was suspended and the directors of its outpatient and obstetrics departments were removed from office, along with the deputy director of its medical affairs department, the statement said.

The legal representative and chairman of Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital were removed from office, while the hospital's vice-president in charge of medical affairs and the head nurse of its outpatient department were suspended from their posts, it said.

Both hospitals are subsidiaries of Xi'an International Medical Investment, which is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Its shares fell by the 10 percent daily limit on Thursday.