A BRAVE surgeon who treated coronavirus patients has become the 41st victim of the outbreak - with 56 million people now on lockdown.

Dr Liang Wudong, 62, passed away today after becoming struck down with the deadly virus on January 16.

20 Dr Liang Wudong is the 41st victim of the disease

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The surgeon had treated patients at the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine before being transferred to the Jinyintan Hospital two days later.

Dr Wudong, who retired from the profession last June, had complained of feeling flustered with a tight chest when he was put in quarantine.

The medic had a history of heart disease and coronary heart disease and had been working at the front line of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan city.

Wuhan is the city where cases of coronavirus were first reported before the outbreak spread across the world.

Dr Wudong is the 41st person to die from the disease with more than 1,200 cases reported in China alone.

Vietnam, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong all now have confirmed cases — alongside the US, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

France yesterday confirmed three cases and Australia one - with all patients returning from Wuhan.

So far, 14 people in the UK have been tested for coronavirus, with five given the all-clear and nine still awaiting results.

But experts have now warned Britain is on the brink of an epidemic - with more than 30 people tested for the killer illness.

Professor Neil Ferguson, an expert at Imperial College London, said the new strain is currently "as deadly as the Spanish flu epidemic".

The 1918 outbreak is the most severe pandemic in recent history, wiping out an estimated 50 million people across the world.

20 This footage allegedly shows a dead body underneath a white sheet in hospital in Wuhan, China Credit: Weibo

20 The video was widely shared on Weibo and was reportedly uploaded by a nurse from inside the hospital Credit: Weibo

20 Footage shows staff wearing full-body protective clothing as residents wait to be seen by doctors and nurses Credit: Weibo

20 More distressing footage shows over-crowded hallways in a hospital Credit: Weibo

There are now 56milllion residents in 18 cities placed on lockdown across China as the country desperately grapples with the spread of the virus.

Public transport has been suspended in ten cities, shutting temples and even closing the Forbidden City and part of the Great Wall.

The risks also persuaded Shanghai Disneyland theme park to close from Saturday until further notice.

Officials have restricted travel in virus epicentre Wuhan, which is home to 11million, as well as neighbouring Huanggang, Ezhou and Lichuan.

Hospitals warned they could not cope with the number of patients turning up with symptoms.

Distressing footage appears to show corpses blocking hospital corridors amid chaotic scenes in Wuhan hospital.

20 Emergency services wearing masks and protective clothing tend to an individual who appeared to collapse on the street Credit: Instagram

20 Medical staff help an individual who has collapsed on the floor

20 One man in Wuhan reportedly lies dead in the street with his head cracked open

20 The deadly bug started in Wuhan and has spread worldwide

The Hubei province city has been dubbed “zombieland” after chilling pictures and video emerged of people collapsed on the street.

In one disturbing clip, a man can be seen lying unresponsive on the ground while medics wearing hazmat suits and gas masks attempt to help him.

Another horrifying picture shows a man reportedly dead on the ground with blood pouring from his head.

A new report produced by Lancaster University in England, the University of Florida and the University of Glasgow says only five per cent of all the coronavirus cases are being diagnosed.

Where did coronavirus start? From bats to snakes - the theories on deadly virus' origins The killer coronavirus was spread from bats to snakes to humans, experts have claimed. An outbreak of the virus is understood to have started at an open air fish market in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which has since been put in lockdown after 25 people died and more than 600 people were infected globally. A new study published in the China Science Bulletin this week claimed that the new coronavirus shared a strain of virus found in bats. Previous deadly outbreaks of SARS and Ebola were also believed to have originated in the flying mammal. Experts had thought the new virus wasn't capable of causing an epidemic as serious as those outbreaks because its genes were different. But this latest research appeared to prove otherwise - as scientists scrabble to produce a vaccine. In a statement, the researchers said: “The Wuhan coronavirus’ natural host could be bats … but between bats and humans there may be an unknown intermediate." Meanwhile, scientists at Peking University also claim that the deadly virus was passed to humans from bats - but say it was through a mutation in snakes. The researchers said that the new strain is made up of a combination of one that affects bats and another unknown coronavirus. They believe that combined genetic material from both bats and this unknown strain picked up a protein that allows viruses bind to certain host cells - including those of humans. After analysing the genes of the strains the team found that snakes were susceptible to the most similar version of the coronavirus. It meant that they likely provided a "reservoir" for the viral strain to grow stronger and replicate. Snakes are sold at the Huanan Seafood Market in central Wuhan and may have jumped to other animals before passing to humans, they claim. But a senior researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, who asked not to be named, said the findings should be treated with caution. He told the South China Morning Post: “It is based on calculation by a computer model. “Whether it will match what happens in real life is inconclusive. “The binding protein is important, but it is just one of the many things under investigation. There may be other proteins involved.” The expert believes that the new strain was an RNA virus, meaning that its mutation speed was 100 times faster than that of a DNA virus such as smallpox.

And the bleak prediction reveals by February 4, the number of infected people in Wuhan could hit 351,396.

Preliminary research suggested the coronavirus was passed on to humans from snakes at Wuhan’s seafood market.

The Huanan Seafood market, which sold live koalas, snakes, rats and wolf pup to locals to eat, has since been shut down while an investigation is carried out.

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Scientists in China yesterday claimed that the deadly strain shares a common ancestor with a virus found only in fruit bats.

Since then footage and images have been circulated purporting to show people eating the Chinese delicacy.

Bat soup is reported to be an unusual but popular dish particularly in Wuhan.

20 A sea of people crowd a hospital corridor as they wait to get medical treatment

20 People stand in line on the street waiting to go inside the hospital to see a doctor

20 Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak Credit: EPA

20 Patients queue up in Wuhan for treatment as China grapples to contain the coronavirus outbreak Credit: EPA

20 Supermarket shelves in capital Beijing, which has also scrapped its New Year public gatherings, lie empty amid the crisis Credit: Alamy Live News

20 Supermarket shelves in Wuhan are bare as residents scramble to stockpile goods Credit: Getty Images - Getty

20 Wuhan residents buying goods in the supermarket as the city was put on lockdown Credit: Getty Images - Getty

20 A Wuhan resident wears a mask while buying vegetables Credit: Getty Images - Getty

20 A staff member disinfects the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan on Wednesday morning Credit: AFP or licensors