Viral Video Shows What Happens if You Try to Evade Coronavirus Checkpoint in China

A video of a training exercise demonstrating what Chinese police should do if someone tries to go past a coronavirus checkpoint has gone viral this week.

The video was originally shared to the Chinese social media platform Weibo and video sharing site TikTok by Tongbai County's Municipal Public Security Bureau, captioned "To win the epidemic defence, Tongyang police had armed exercises," as translated by Sky News.

It shows a training exercise where a man drives past a coronavirus checkpoint. A police van blocks the car's path and officers deploy tire spikes in front of the vehicle. The man exits the car, and is told to remove his face mask. Officers then put a net over his head and rush him off-camera, and another group of officers in protective gear spray disinfectant all around the scene. Though some officers are in their standard uniforms, all are wearing face masks to protect themselves from the virus.

Newsweek reached out to the World Health Organization, who had no comment.

The footage was recorded in Henan province, which borders Hubei province, where the coronavirus originated. The coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, originated in Wuhan, Hubei's capital and largest city. Wuhan is China's ninth-largest city, and is sometimes called "the Chicago of China" due to its size and status as a major transportation hub.

As of February 27, there are more than 82,000 cases of the coronavirus, up by about 1,000 cases since the previous morning. The total number of countries that have seen cases of the coronavirus has also increased Thursday by nine to 47, and are across all continents except Antarctica.

The United States has also seen an increase in coronavirus cases, with a total of 60 people infected. Of those 60 cases, 45 come from people evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship or people evacuated from Wuhan on government-chartered flights. Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that one person in California tested positive for the virus, despite not having any relevant travel history, nor any contact with a known patient. This is the first time a case potentially caused by community spread has been seen in the United States, according to the CDC.

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that Vice President Mike Pence would lead the U.S. coronavirus response team. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar will serve as the task force's chairman.

"I'm going to be putting Vice President Mike Pence in charge," Trump told reporters Wednesday, "and he's going to be working with the professionals, doctors and everybody else that is working. The team is brilliant."