Dead man lies on an empty street at China's virus ground zero

A grey-haired man wearing a face mask lies dead on the pavement at ground zero of China's virus epidemic, a plastic shopping bag in one hand.

On what would typically be a crowded street in Wuhan, an industrial city of 11 million under quarantine, there are only a few passersby and they dare not go near him.

AFP journalists saw the body on Thursday morning, not long before an emergency vehicle arrived carrying police and medical staff in full-body protective suits.

The man lay straight on his back in front of a closed furniture store. Medical staff in blue overalls gently shrouded his body with a blue blanket.