A Vietnamese health official wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant on a motorcyle at a checkpoint in Son Loi commune in Vinh Phuc province on Thursday. Photo:AFP

 

More than 10,000 people in villages near Vietnam's capital were placed ­under quarantine Thursday after six ­cases of the deadly new coronavirus were discovered there, authorities said. 

In the first mass quarantine outside of China since the virus emerged there in late December, the Son Loi farming region about 40 kilometers from ­Hanoi will be locked down for 20 days, the health ministry said. 

Checkpoints have been set up around the six villages that make up Son Loi, said an AFP team on the outskirts of the area in Binh Xuyen district.  

Health officials wearing protective suits sprayed disinfectant on vehicles. Police warned people wanting to enter the quarantined area that while they would be allowed in, they would not be able to leave.

The order comes after the health ministry reported that five people have been infected with the virus. It later announced a sixth case. 

They all originated from a female worker who was sent to Wuhan in central China - where the virus originated - for training. The disease then spread to her family and her neighbors, including a 3-month-old baby. 

So far, only the female worker has fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital, according to updates from the ministry, while the others remain in a "stable" condition.

The Son Loi area of roughly 1,000 hectares is made up of farmland. Many of the 10,600 residents also commute to nearby factories for short-term labor jobs.

Villager Tran Van Minh told AFP that authorities had already advised them to avoid large gatherings, though the cluster of infections in his village likely began due to Tet lunar new year celebrations last week. 

"The woman infected her family and neighbors after Tet visits," he said, adding that he and his family remain in good health. But "life has been badly affected," he told AFP by phone, adding that much of the labor force is reliant on jobs in construction and house painting. 

"Now we cannot get out and even if we do, clients don't welcome us that much as before." 

Authorities in Son Loi began handing out face masks after the Tet holiday ended on January 30. Since then children and elderly have largely been confined to their homes.

Minh said he was not worried about running out of food, but he hoped "the epidemic will end soon."