Stranded by coronavirus blockade, Chinese man fights to get back to work

A sign saying restaurants at the service station are temporarily closed following instructions on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak is seen in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China February 12, 2020. Picture taken February 12, 2020. Tian Bing/Handout via REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters) - Tian Bing has spent six straight nights curled up in the back of his white sedan, stranded at an expressway service station in eastern Jiangsu province in China because of a blockade aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

On Sunday, the 35-year-old completed a near-2,000 km (1,243 mile) drive from his hometown to Taixing, a city of about 1 million people in Jiangsu, to return to work. But policemen guarding the highway exit to the city, where he runs a home appliances repair business, told him turn back.