Striking photos show Chinese officials on horseback travelling to the country's most remote areas to warn people about the coronavirus

Sophia Ankel,Sophia AnkelMar 17, 2020, 17:24 IST

News about the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 182,000 people so far, has reached the most faraway corners of the world.
Even in remote parts of China's northwestern Xinjiang region, nomad families are being educated about the illness.
These photos, taken on February 19, capture how Chinese officials traveled to these regions on horseback to promote awareness about the virus.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

With more than 182,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in 150 countries, warnings about the pandemic have spread to almost every corner of the world.

The new coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has also affected every province and region of the country.

Even in the country's most remote regions, police had to ride on horseback through snowy conditions to reach nomad communities and inform them about the dangers of the virus.

Striking photos that were taken on February 19, when China was still recording thousands of cases a day, show what that looked like.

See Striking photos show Chinese officials on horseback travelling to the country's most remote areas to warn people about the coronavirus >>

The Altay prefecture, located in China's northwestern Xinjiang region, is one of the most remote areas in the world.

The region of Xinjiang is home to the Uighurs, a mostly-Muslim ethnic minority currently being heavily surveilled by the Chinese government. Uighurs refer to the region as East Turkestan.

Xinjiang's major cities are easily accessible, but its more remote regions are not.

To travel from Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang, to Altay, it takes about one hour by plane, 9 hours by day bus, 12 hours by night bus and about 14 hours by train, according to Reuters.

Source: Reuters

On February 19, as coronavirus cases across China were spiking, authorities traveled through rough, snowy conditions to reach the prefecture's most isolated nomad families.

Source: Getty Images

Wearing face masks and even hazmat suits, police, military, and medical workers had to trek through deep snow, sometimes on foot...

...and other times on horseback.

Once they reached the nomad families, police measured their temperatures...

Source: Getty

...and also informed them about measures to take to prevent it from spreading any further.