Villages on Beijing's outskirts isolate selves amid outbreak Villages on the outskirts of Beijing are closing themselves off to outsiders to ward against infection from a new type of virusBEIJING -- With barricades and wary guardians, villages on the outskirts of Beijing are closing themselves off to outsiders to ward against infection from a new type of virus. “If we let in one (infected) person, the whole village would be ruined,” said Chen Shuyi, a member of the village committee in Zhuangke in Hebei province, which borders Beijing. “We’ve made it very clear that people and cars from outside cannot get into the village,” said committee head Wang Huijin. The village closures echo tactics employed during the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2002-2003. They're also an extension of the strict travel bans and quarantines that the government is relying on to contain the virus.

Source: ABC News January 29, 2020 10:41 UTC