In cities and regions hard-hit by the coronavirus crisis, quarantine measures and self-isolation efforts have left many public spaces deserted. Classrooms, plazas, malls, sports venues, cafes, houses of worship, and tourist destinations appear eerily empty as people stay home, cancel plans, and await further news.
When Everyone Stays Home: Empty Public Spaces During Coronavirus
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An aerial view shows an eerily empty white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque, on March 6, 2020. Attendance at Friday prayers was hit by measures to protect against the deadly new coronavirus. #
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Professor Maurizio Casiraghi of the Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences of Milano Bicocca records a lesson on the evolution of genomes in an empty classroom in Milan, Italy, on March 5, 2020. Italy closed all schools and universities until March 15 to help combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. #
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Teams line up in an empty stadium, before the Inter Milan versus Ludogorets Europa League match; fans were not allowed in because of coronavirus fears, in San Siro, Milan, Italy, on February 27, 2020. #
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A completely empty Piazza San Marco is seen on March 9, 2020, in Venice, Italy. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced a "national emergency" due to the coronavirus outbreak and imposed quarantines on the Lombardy and Veneto regions, which contain roughly a quarter of the country's population. #
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A man stands behind a menu stand at the empty Piazza Navona restaurant, after a government decree closed schools and cinemas, and urged people to work from home and not stand closer than one meter from each other, in Rome, Italy, on March 5, 2020. #
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A combination photo shows a large crowd of people visiting Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on April 16, 2019 (left) and a much smaller group on March 9, 2020. #
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Spectator stands are empty during play in a preseason baseball game between the Yomiuri Giants and the Yakult Swallows at Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo on February 29, 2020. Japanese officials said on March 9, 2020, that they are postponing the start of the 12-team professional baseball league's season because of the spread of the coronavirus. #
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A shopper walks past empty shelves normally stocked with soaps, sanitizers, paper towels, and toilet paper at a Smart & Final grocery store, in Glendale, California, on March 7, 2020. Fears of coronavirus, or COVID-19, have led nervous residents to frantically stock up on canned food as well as cleaning and hygiene products. #
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A view of empty chairs at St. Peter's Square before the live broadcasting of Pope Francis's Sunday Angelus prayer during the coronavirus emergency, on March 8, 2020, in Vatican City. #
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The Colosseum, closed following the government's new prevention measures on public gatherings, is reflected in a puddle where a face mask was left, in Rome, on March 8, 2020. #
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Viewing stands remain empty as a result of preventive measures linked to the spread of COVID-19, as competitors take the start of the Women's 30-kilometer classical cross-country-skiing race at the FIS World Cup Nordic on March 7, 2020, in Holmenkollen, Norway. #
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An aerial photo shows unused tourist buses packed into a lot near Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 8, 2020. Ranks of tourist buses idle under a burning sun while once-bustling theme parks lie empty, images of the hollowing out of Thai tourism due to fears of the new coronavirus. #
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A restaurant promoter awaits customers in a largely empty part of Singapore's Chinatown, as tourism takes a decline because of the coronavirus outbreak, on February 21, 2020. #
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The empty Sant'Ambrogio Basilica is pictured in Milan, Italy, on March 1, 2020. In accordance with Italian authorities, dioceses decided to suspend masses in order to prevent the spread of the highly infectious coronavirus. #
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Spectator seating remains empty as sumo wrestlers hold a Dohyo ring-entering ceremony at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, which is taking place behind closed doors amid the spread of coronavirus, in Osaka, Japan, on March 8, 2020. #
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Yeshiva University players, foreground, warm up in a mostly empty Goldfarb Gymnasium at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, before playing against Worcester Polytechnic Institute in a first-round game at the men's Division III NCAA college basketball tournament on March 6, 2020. The university held the tournament without spectators after cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Maryland. #
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