Coronavirus latest: Hunt on for 2,000 people who flew from Wuhan to UK as sickness hits Europe and China locks down 56 million residents

Authorities are desperately tracing 2,000 people who flew from the region of China where the Coronavirus broke out to the UK in the last two weeks.

The Department of Health is hunting for passengers who came to Britain from Wuhan, a city of 11 million people which is on lock down amid the outbreak.

It comes as the death toll from the Sars-like virus has risen to 41, while the spread to Europe has been confirmed with three cases in France .

The fatalities so far have been contained to China, which has placed a reported 56 million people on lockdown, with the majority occurring in the Hubei province around Wuhan.

More than 1,300 people have been infected by the virus worldwide.

There are fears the virus may have reached the UK as England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said 14 people were given the all-clear on Thursday - but more were being checked over.

Work is on to build new facilities to deal with the outbreak in China (Getty Images)

Professor Whitty said he felt there was a "fair chance" of the coronavirus emerging in Britain.

There were tests for a patient in Northern Ireland but these have been confirmed to be negative.

An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution (AP)

All 14 people tested in the UK are thought to have visited Wuhan – the Chinese city where the outbreak originated.

It is understood Border Force officers have been recruited to assist in speeding up the search for passengers as testing for the virus continues in the UK.

Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital (Reuters)

In China, authorities in Beijing and other cities cancelled many public celebrations and other events marking Lunar New Year, which falls on Saturday.

Hospitals in Wuhan grappled with a flood of patients and a lack of supplies and videos circulating online showed throngs of frantic people in masks lined up for examinations.

Some complained that family members had been turned away at hospitals that were at capacity.

Authorities in Wuhan and elsewhere put out calls for medicine, disinfection equipment, masks, goggles, gowns and other protective gear.

Wuhan authorities said they are rapidly constructing a new 1,000-bed hospital to deal with the crisis, to be completed on February 3, which will be modelled on a Sars hospital that was built in Beijing in just six days during the Sars outbreak.