A view of the empty street at 54th street and 6th Ave in Midtown Manhattan in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak on March 20, 2020 in New York City.
Roy Rochlin | Getty Images
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to shut down cities around the world, bringing the global economy to a crawl. Governments are taking unprecedented measures to combat the pandemic, putting in place stay-at-home orders for more much of the world’s population in an effort to flatten the curve of infection.
The U.S. just surpassed China’s official infection load, and those numbers are expected to dramatically increase in the coming weeks. In New York City, the number of confirmed infections doubled in three days. India just issued a 21-day lockdown for its population of more than 1.3 billion. Italy’s death toll just passed 10,000 and it recorded the worst single day death toll of more than 900 deaths. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive and is in quarantine.
The following are 2020 scenes showing some of the impact on cities across the globe.
New York City’s Times Square on March 23
A nearly empty Times Square is seen on March 23, 2020 in New York City.
Angela Weiss | AFP via Getty Images
A deserted street in New Delhi on March 27
Highway is seen empty after the nationwide Janata (civil) curfew was imposed in response to curb the pandemic of coronavirus (COVID-19) in India on March 22, 2020.
Javed Sultan | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Venice shuttered on March 15
Daily life in Venice, Italy, on March 15, 2020 during the Coronavirus Emergency. Most of the streets everywhere around the city are empty and very few people on the streets, going out just to buy food at the supermarket or taking their dogs out for a walk.
Giacomo | NurPhoto | Getty Images
The original epicenter in Wuhan, China, on March 10
This aerial photo taken on March 10, 2020 shows an empty street in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province.
STR | AFP | Getty Images
The usually bustling Regent Street in London on March 26
A near-deserted Regent Street in London, England, on March 26, 2020. According to the latest daily figures a total of 578 people have so far died across the UK after testing positive for the covid-19 coronavirus.
David Cliff | NurPhoto | Getty Images
San Francisco on March 17
California Street, usually filled with iconic cable cars, is seen mostly empty in San Francisco, California on March 17, 2020.
Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images
The Coliseum in Rome on March 28
A picture shows the empty square in front of the Colisseum in Rome on March 28, 2020, during the country’s lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19 (new coronavirus) pandemic.
Vicenzo Pinto | AFP | Getty Images
East First Street in Los Angeles on March 20
Traffic is light on East First Street after the new restrictions went into effect at midnight as the coronavirus pandemic spreads on March 20, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.
David McNew | Getty Images
Empty Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on March 28
Empty Champs Elysees avenue is pictured on March 28, 2020 in Paris, France. The country has introduced fines for people caught violating its nationwide lockdown measures intended to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Pascal Le Segretain | Getty Images
Las Ramblas stands idle in Barcelona on March 23
Pigeons are seen on a nearly empty Las Ramblas on March 23, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain.
David Ramos | Getty Images
Downtown Chicago on March 21
A woman waits for a bus on a nearly empty street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, on March 21, 2020.
Kamil Kraczinski | AFP | Getty Images
Tauentzien shopping street in Berlin on March 24
The French Quarter in New Orleans on March 27
A view of an empty street in the French Quarter amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on March 27, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Chris Graythen | Getty Images