BEIJING—When the coronavirus pandemic started worsening in the U.K. last week, Jennie Lan knew where she would feel safest: China.

The graduate student at University College London was worried Brits weren’t taking precautions, such as wearing face masks. “People here didn’t attach a great significance to the coronavirus,” Ms. Lan said. On Tuesday, she will fly to China to stay with her parents, who live in a district with no reported infections. “The local government controlled it well,” she said.

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