According to the Wuhan mayor, over five million people living or working in Wuhan left the city before the announcement of the coronavirus outbreak. Many of them are now finding difficulties in either returning home due to suspended transportation, or in staying in other cities over concern of causing a possible virus spread.

To help tourists from the Hubei Province, including Wuhan, many cities across China have designated hotels to accommodate those stranded. In Guangzhou, a city in south China that's some 1,000 kilometers away from Hubei Province,  for example, 22 hotels have been designated to house tourists from the area.

Strengthened protective measures are needed at these hotels.

Guests should go through a temperature check before they check in. Hand sanitizers and medical supplies are also readily available.

A tourist surnamed Zhang and his family came to Guangzhou for holiday, but didn't expect things would turn out this way. 

"To have us housed here is good," Zhang said. "It helps to contain a possible spread of the coronavirus. It's good for us tourists as well as for other residents."

Around 20 tourists from Hubei are now staying in the hotel that Zhang lives in.

Local communities regularly send doctors to the hotels, to provide help if needed.

"This is my first face-to-face visit with these tourists. I'll come every day," Chen Yanjie, a community doctor introduced his work. "If I find abnormal cases such as a fever, we'll have ambulances taking them to one of three designated hospitals for further observation."

Local health authorities have provided special training to hotel staff.

And similar hotel arrangements are now being made available in many cities across China.