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Cao Ting (C) helps her colleague to wear protective suit at Xiaogan's center for disease control and prevention in central China's Hubei Province.
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Chinese paramilitary police officers wearing protective gears transfer pails of disinfectant in Yunmeng county.
AFP via Getty Images
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Chinese paramilitary police officers wearing protective gears transfer pails of disinfectant in Yunmeng county.
AFP via Getty Images
An ambulance drives on the street of Xiaogan, central China's Hube
Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images
A loudspeaker is set atop a vehicle in Sanli Community in a campaign to publicize knowledge regarding epidemic prevention in Xiaogan,
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Officials in the coronavirus-ravaged city of Xiaogan have two options — stay at home or face jail time, according to a report.

The city — which is the worst-impacted city after viral ground zero Wuhan — warned residents that they will be subject to 10 days in jail if they break the house arrest, the South China Morning Post reported.

“All urban residents must stay at home and are strictly forbidden from going out,” officials said. “Rural villagers are strictly forbidden from … visiting each other or holding any gatherings.”

More than 2,700 cases of the virus have been detected among the 4.8 million residents in Xiaogan, which is located around 37 miles from Wuhan in Hubei province, the report said.

The death toll in the city reached 70 on Sunday as the ban went into effect at midnight.

Xiaogan officials also ordered all businesses to close in addition to banning vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles from the roads, the report said. Anyone who doesn’t follow these orders will be fined 500 yuan, or $72.

The virus, also known as COVID-19, has killed at least 1,770 people in China and infected more than 71,000 others around the world.

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