Wuhan people keep out: Chinese villages shun outsiders as virus spreads

Red tape was tied across the road at the entrance to the small community Monday. Village committee members wearing face masks and high-visibility vests manned the blockade.

Since last week, a public address system had been broadcasting messages, residents told Reuters, warning people against inviting guests and urging anyone who has been to Wuhan, the epicenter of a spreading coronavirus that has killed 106 people, to register with authorities.

“We grow our own leeks … we have a lot of frozen pork, rice and oil. There’s no need for us to go outside,” villager Lu Weian, who lives in a traditional village house with high walls, told Reuters by phone.

“Every house is its own quarantine zone,” she said.