China coronavirus: cities, provinces close roads to stop spread of deadly infection
- Official from Henan says anyone trying to enter from Hubei, the province at the heart of the epidemic, will be turned back
- Authorities across the country impose bans on intercity buses, trains in response to calls from President Xi Jinping to help contain the outbreak
State news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday that 30 province-level jurisdictions had activated a level-one emergency response to contain the outbreak.
According to images shown on social media, several roads leading from Hubei to the provinces of Henan and Jiangxi have been blocked and in some cases dug up to prevent people from entering.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Henan official in charge of monitoring roads into the province said he had been given strict instructions not to let anyone in.
“No Hubei people shall pass my gantry, we will turn them back. Some villages dug up their roads, but I think that is too extreme,” he said.
“The order was to make sure we checked every car and every passenger, and send back the ones from Hubei.”
A man from Hubei who was visiting the city of Dali in southwest China’s Yunnan province, said he was being discriminated against because of where he was from.
