Germany urged its citizens yesterday to avoid "unnecessary trips" to China amid fears over the rapid spread of a deadly virus.

Berlin also said it was considering evacuating citizens from Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak.

"Travellers should consider delaying or cancelling any unnecessary trips to China," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told a press conference in the capital. Maas added that the government was "considering a possible evacuation of all willing German citizens" from Wuhan, in Hubei province where the coronavirus first emerged.

The number of German citizens currently in the city was estimated to be "in double figures", he said.

The respiratory virus has infected thousands and killed 81 since it was discovered in Wuhan last December.