The train station in Wuhan is deserted before New Year's Eve, the most important holiday of the year, because of a new strain of corona pneumonia (nCoV).

Photos posted by Chinese journalist Luo Chongwei on social media on January 23 show that the giant Wuhan station is empty. All trains leaving the city were canceled indefinitely by a strange outbreak of pneumonia.

The disease was so severe that the city of 11 million people was closed on New Year's Eve, the most important holiday of the year. At this time in previous years, Wuhan station was often overloaded with crowded passengers rushing back home before the lunar new year began.

However, this year very few passengers left the train when it stopped at Wuhan Station and nobody boarded the train. The weather was cold and shops in the station were closed. What journalist Luo saw was only a small group of passengers in the station and a few people in the plaza outside.

Wuhan is the tenth most populous city in China. Pandemic pneumonia has killed 25 people and about 800 cases globally by the morning of January 24. Outside of China, outbreaks have occurred in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the USA, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Vietnam.

Wuhan Health Commission said people were lining up at fever treatment centers and crowded hospitals. Seven hospitals are operating at full capacity with 3,000 beds, which are used exclusively to treat suspected and confirmed viral infections. Wuhan University People's Hospital urges people to donate masks and protective clothing.