China's health authorities have launched a wide-ranging investigation into a Hangzhou hospital HIV scandal, after the country was shocked by a recent report about malpractice by a hospital worker resulting in five people contracting the deadly virus.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine have dispatched a joint task force to Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine to look into the incident, according to a statement issued on the NHFPC official website on Monday night. And the authorities will send out another task force soon to supervise a subsequent investigation and look into the handling of the serious medical incident.

Li Bin, director of the NHFPC, has urged all out efforts to treat the infected patients and the adoption of emergency prevention measures, according to the statement. She also demanded harsh punishments according to the law for those responsible .

A medical staffer at Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine violated procedure by reusing hypodermic needles on patients, infecting five people with HIV as a result, according to a statement issued by the Zhejiang Health and Family Planning Commission last Thursday.

Five officials at the hospital have been sacked, including its president and executive vice-president, the statement added.