While residents of Wuhan, China, spend a second week in quarantine, drone footage shows how empty the city looks.
Since January 23, when the Chinese government issued quarantine orders for several cities as part of its efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, all forms of public transport, trains and air travel have been stopped. This is the most global quarantine in human history.
Scientists believe the virus, called 2019-nCov, most likely passed from animals to humans at a seafood market in Wuhan. More than 20,000 people fell ill and 420 died.
Authorities banned traffic on January 26, promulgating the removal of all private vehicles from downtown Wuhan. However, permitted vehicles carrying supplies and taxis are still permitted.
Drone footage shows almost empty streets in typically bustling Wuhan, China, amid a citywide lockdown over the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The viral outbreak has infected more than 20,600 people globally. https://t.co/K9g7lCir38 pic.twitter.com/ZctumKNM1Q
– ABC News (@ABC) February 4, 2020
The quarantine, combined with fears of the rapid spread of the coronavirus, has turned Wuhan – a city of 11 million people – into a ghost town.
In the ABC News video above, only a few cars are visible on the road. Two people ride bicycles down the street. There is no one in the bars or the park in the city center.
45 million people are in quarantine.
Shortly after the authorities announced the quarantine policy in Wuhan, the authorities also blocked 15 other cities, bringing the total number of isolated citizens to 45 million.
“If you live in cities, your movement can be controlled by public transport,” Fay Chen, an urban design professor at the University of Liverpool, told Business Insider. 'There is an international airport in Wuhan. It has highways and railways. So if you block them, then you restrict people. '
The travel ban came in the middle of the Lunar New Year celebrations, the world's largest annual human migration.
Reports from Wuhan say residents mostly stay in their homes, stocking up on food and masks from time to time. Some retail stores have run out of food stocks as households stockpile without knowing how long the epidemic and containment will last.
Chinese authorities have asked farmers to increase food production and have opened several closed roads for trucks, Reuters reported. The government has also threatened with harsh punishment for shop owners who raise prices for food and masks. (Wearing a face shield in public is mandatory in Wuhan.)
The city quickly built additional healthcare facilities for patients infected with the coronavirus as city hospitals were short of beds.
Sports stadiums and other buildings in Wuhan have also been converted into temporary hospitals.
The authorities did not disclose when the quarantine will end.
This article was published by Business Insider.
Sources: Photo: Getty Images
