Published 8:37 AM EST, Thu January 30, 2020
China is on lockdown. The Wuhan coronavirus has killed 170 people and infected around 8,000 across the country. In an attempt to halt the outbreak, many Chinese cities have been placed under severe travel restrictions, affecting some 60 million people.
Elsewhere, people have quarantined themselves, following government advice to avoid large gatherings and stay home for the Lunar New Year holiday, which has been extended until February 2.
Images from Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the outbreak, as well as megacities Beijing and Shanghai, show usually bustling urban centers looking like ghost towns.
"No one's here," Jenna Davidson, an American studying in China, told CNN. "There's 24 million people in Shanghai and there's no one on the street. It's kind of spooky."
On Weibo, one of China's largest social media platforms, posters remarked on the empty streets outside, even as they remained holed up indoors.
One user said he rode his bike around central Beijing Wednesday night, and found it "familiar but strange."
"Just several days ago, (Beijing) was welcoming the Lunar New Year in a scene of prosperity, but in the blink of an eye it's turned into an empty city," he wrote.
"Pedestrians can hardly be seen around popular sites such as the Forbidden Palace (and) ... Tiananmen. There are very few cars too. All the shops in the commercial district of Xidan are closed. Empty and miserable."
