Coronavirus fears empty the streets of Wuhan

Time-lapse video shows empty streets in Wuhan, the epicentre of coronavirus outbreak

SHOWS: WUHAN, CHINA (JANUARY 28, 2020) (NO RESALE / MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY LEEN VERVAEKE, DE VOLKSKRANT) (MUTE) 1.

TIME-LAPSE VIDEO OF EMPTY MOTORWAY STORY: A usually busy motorway in the Chinese industrial city of Wuhan appeared empty on Wednesday (January 29) as fears over the deadly coronavirus have crippled Chinese transportation.

Streets were deserted in many major cities as the number of deaths from the flu-like virus rose by 26 to 132, almost all in the province of Hubei, the capital of which is Wuhan, where the virus emerged last month in a wild animal market.

The central province of about 60 million people is under virtual lockdown.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it is confident in China's ability to contain the coronavirus, but concern is mounting as health authorities reported the number of confirmed cases had jumped by 1,459 to 5,974.

(Production: Oleksandr Ieltsov, Michael Fiorentino)