An outsider's life in a lockdown city

As the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic rages across the Chinese mainland, a Hong Kong permanent resident remains stranded in a city of Zhejiang province — one of the nation's hardest-hit areas. He finds the "super strict" measures imposed to contain the outbreak painful, but necessary.

Yueqing — a county-level city near the industrial port of Wenzhou — has been "locked down" since early this month. All major roads have been blocked off to curb the flow of people as part of an effort to contain the novel coronavirus epidemic. Guards are patrolling key entrances and exits. The streets are deserted and almost all shops have pulled down their shutters, creating an eerie silence.

This is what Peter Bentley has seen since he found himself stuck in the city for the past few weeks. It's like a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the Briton, who has traveled extensively on the mainland on business, even during the SARS outbreak 17 years ago.

To contain the epidemic, which has killed over 1,800 people and infected more than 72,000 on the mainland as of Tuesday, the authorities in Yueqing have suspended all outbound and inbound traffic since Feb 4, with all highways linking other cities and major thoroughfares in the city sealed off. Two other regions of Wenzhou have also taken similar measures.