China hunts for travellers from virus epicentre

Communities in China are offering cash rewards, knocking on doors and questioning people trying to enter their neighbourhoods -- but they're not looking for criminals.

They're searching for anyone coming from Wuhan, the central city at the epicentre of a deadly virus epidemic that has sparked fear -- even panic -- in China and beyond.

The end of the extended Lunar New Year holiday this weekend has raised concerns that the new coronavirus could spread further as people travel across the country.

In Beijing, neighbourhoods have sealed themselves off -- some with homemade barriers -- to force visitors or anyone returning home from the holiday to register their travel history.

One district in northern Shijiazhuang city is even offering cash incentives of 2,000 yuan (USD 288) for reporting anyone who has travelled to Wuhan in the past two weeks.

For some communities, anyone who has visited central Hubei province -- of which Wuhan is the capital -- is no longer welcome at all.

"Even if you live here, you can't enter," said a security guard at the entrance of a Beijing neighbourhood when asked about returning Hubei residents.

"Those from Hubei could bring the infection here," he told AFP, wearing a blue mask. "If you're from Hubei, you have to notify the neighbourhood committee."