Photos Show Stadiums and Arenas Sitting Empty as Coronavirus Spreads
By Associated Press ••
As the coronavirus spreads around the world, empty spaces are everywhere.
In the hardest-hit countries, people are staying away from sporting events, museums, concert halls and the beach. Some teams are even competing with no fans present.
In South Korea, pro basketball and volleyball games were played in thoroughly disinfected arenas with no spectators. Church services were canceled.
Preseason baseball games in Japan took place in deserted stadiums and horse races went ahead without spectators. Sunday's Tokyo Marathon, which was expected to have 38,000 participants, was limited to elite runners. The race, which doubles as an Olympic trial for Japanese marathon runners, had just over 200 participants.
In Italy, many Ash Wednesday services were canceled and a soccer match between Milan and Ludogorets was played without fans. In Paris, the “Mona Lisa” hung in a vacant room of the closed Louvre in Paris.
The Geneva International Motor Show was called off after the Swiss government banned all large events.
The virus has infected more than 89,000 people and killed over 3,000 worldwide. And while most cases were relatively mild, quarantines, supply-chain disruptions and reductions in tourism and business travel are wreaking havoc on the global economy.
11 photos
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FILE – Tomoyuki Sugano of the Yomiuri Giants pitches in front of empty stands at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo during a preseason baseball game between the Yomiuri Giants and the Yakult Swallows on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. Japan’s professional baseball league said Thursday, Feb. 27, that it will play its 72 remaining preseason games in empty stadiums because of the threat of the spreading coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
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FILE – The entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, is empty Sunday, March 1, 2020. The museum was shut down Sunday, with workers who guard its trove of artworks fearful of being contaminated by the museum’s flow of visitors from around the world. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh, File)
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FILE – Sun beds lie empty at La Caleta beach near the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary island of Tenerife, Spain, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. Fears of the coronavirus have caused a drop in tourism and other commerce around the world. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu, File)
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A passenger walks through the Tokyo train station Monday, March 2, 2020. As the number of infections of the COVID-19 disease caused by the new coronavirus spreads around the globe, many once-busy public spaces are empty. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
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FILE – A horse race is held without spectators at Oi horse racecourse in Tokyo amid growing concern about the spread of a new coronavirus on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. As the coronavirus spreads around the world, many events that normally would draw large numbers of people are being canceled or played without fans. (Yuta Omori/Kyodo News via AP, File)
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A lift operator stands inside a dedicated lift for people suspected to be infected with the new coronavirus at the Government Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, India, Monday, March 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
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FILE – Murals adorn the walls of an empty subway station in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak in northern Italy, the bustling metropolis of Milan has resembled more of a ghost town, as workers stayed home and tourism has dwindled there, and other parts of Italy. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
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A pilgrim, who entered Saudi Arabia before the country halted travel to the holiest sites, takes a rest on a praying carpet at the roof of the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Monday, March 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
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FILE – Empty gondolas are docked in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying the new coronavirus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
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FILE – Stadium seats are empty during the pro volleyball V-league game between the Wooricard Wibee and Hyundai Capital Services Skywalkers in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. The volleyball game was held without spectators to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
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FILE – A couple shelter against the rain with an umbrella as they walk at St. Mark’s Square during a rainy day in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying the new coronavirus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
