Vietnam quarantines village of 10,000 over virus

Vietnamese authorities quarantined the rural community of Son Loi, which is home to 10,000 people, including 11 of the 16 coronavirus cases in the country.

Vietnamese authorities on Thursday (February 13) quarantined a community of 10,000 people near the capital, Hanoi, for 20 days because of fears the coronavirus could spread there, two local officials told Reuters.

The rural commune of Son Loi, in the northern Vietnamese province of Vinh Phuc, 44 km (27 miles) from Hanoi, is home to 11 of the 16 coronavirus cases in the Southeast Asian country, including a three-month-old baby.

"The epidemic has affected the life of the villagers badly, especially farmers like me.

We cannot sell our goods.

No one would buy anything from us once they know we are from Son Loi, then they would avoid us as if we were spreading leprosy," a despondent local resident who chose to stay outside the quarantined zone before the lockdown, told Reuters.

The southeast Asia country has made plans to quarantine hundreds of its citizens returning from China, including 950 at military camps outside Hanoi, and another 900 at temporary facilities on the Vietnam-China border.