Wuhan: Image of dead man on empty street reflects tragedy in China's coronavirus ground zero

This photo taken on Jan 30, 2020 shows officials in protective suits checking on an elderly man wearing a face mask who collapsed and died on a street near a hospital in Wuhan. Photo: AFP

WUHAN (AFP): 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 passers-by and they dare not go near him.