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Coronavirus reopenings: How it looks as lockdowns ease around the world

From the US to Indonesia, Germany to Pakistan, Canada to New Zealand, the world is coming back to life. But it looks very different than it used to.

Leslie Katz
Leslie Katz led a team that explored the intersection of tech and culture, plus all manner of awe-inspiring science, from space to AI and archaeology. When she's not smithing words, she's probably playing online word games, tending to her garden or referring to herself in the third person.
Leslie Katz
partyvote
1 of 30 Jonas Güttler/picture alliance via Getty Images

Germany: Political conference at a drive-in

May and June have seen the tentative, gradual reopening of schools, retail outlets and houses of worship around the globe. The extent of the easing varies from country to country and city to city. But one thing is for sure: Most parts of the world look very different than they did just a few months ago and likely will for some time. Here are some examples.  

On June 6, delegates at a conference for German political party SPD Dortmund display paper ballots from the windows of their cars. The party is holding its conference, and the assembly of representatives before the local elections, at an open air drive-in cinema in western Germany to minimize the risk of coronavirus infection. Most restrictions on public life in Germany due to COVID-19 have now been lifted. 

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2 of 30 Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

US Limited capacity at the Great Mall of America

A store inside the massive Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota, advertises limited hours and limited store capacity on June 10, the first day the mall was open since March. The mall initially planned to reopen on June 1, but the opening date got pushed back due to widespread unrest in the area over the death of George Floyd in police custody

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3 of 30 Anton Raharjo/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Indonesia: Not all mall urinals can be used

At another shopping mall, Jakarta's Senayan City, every other urinal is blocked on June 9 to comply with social distancing protocols. The mall reopens June 15.

treadmills
4 of 30 Eric Lalmand/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images

Belgium: Dividers between treadmills

Plastic screens divide treadmills at a fitness center in Hannut, Belgium, on June 8, the first day of the country's phase 3 of reopening.  

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5 of 30 Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

India: Hairdressers protect themselves

Hairdressers clad in protective coveralls, shoes and gloves tend to customers in a New Delhi salon on June 5. 

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6 of 30 Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images

Hungary: Social distancing at the synagogue

Members of the Thokoly street synagogue in Budapest, Hungary, attend Friday evening Sabbath prayers on June 5 while observing social distancing. 

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7 of 30 Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images

India: Escalators marked for social distancing

In a reopened shopping mall in Bangalore, India, on June 10, visitors use escalators marked with social distancing signs. 

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8 of 30 Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images

Canada: Social distancing stalls

In the parking lot of the Burnaby Winter Club in Burnaby, Canada, on May 7, kids put on their hockey gear in outdoor, socially distant stalls. The club reopened May 6 for the first time since March 13, though a return to games and full hockey practices appears to still be a ways off. 

southcarolina
9 of 30 Sean Rayford/Getty Images

US: Apple stores open, with new rules

On May 13 in Charleston, South Carolina, Apple store workers and security guards prepare customers to enter the reopened store. Visitors now have to have their temperatures taken and wear masks in the store. Apple is also reopening some stores in Florida, California, Washington, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Colorado and around the world. 

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10 of 30 Asif Hussain/AFP via Getty Images

Pakistan: Getting disinfected before shopping

A woman walks through a disinfecting gate before entering a shopping mall in Karachi on May 19. 

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11 of 30 Robert Michael/picture alliance via Getty Images

Germany: Spaced-out dressing rooms

Every other changing room at a store in Dresden, Germany, can be seen cordoned off with tape on May 6 to keep customers apart from one another as they try on clothes. Shopping centers in the state of Saxony were allowed to reopen as of May 5.  

shoes
12 of 30 Iñaki Berasaluce/Europa Press via Getty Images

Spain: Trying on shoes a new way

On May 6, a customer at a shop in Vitoria in northern Spain tries on shoes with a plastic bag and gloves. Small shops in the area were allowed to open in early May, with clients attended to individually and by appointment. 

road
13 of 30 Matthew Chattle/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

London: Narrower roads, wider sidewalks

On London's Seven Sisters Road on May 19, a sign indicates that the road has been narrowed to vehicles to allow those walking on the sidewalk more space for social distancing.

church
14 of 30 Eduardo Briones/Europa Press via Getty Images

Spain: Worshippers return to church

A worshipper sits in a chapel at Sevilla Cathedral in Sevilla, Spain, on May 11. That's the day the province started the first phase of reducing confinement measures established by the government to contain the spread of COVID-19. 

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15 of 30 Marty Melville/AFP via Getty Images

New Zealand: Space between train seats

Signs on a commuter train in Wellington, New Zealand, show passengers where to sit to follow social distancing measures. Shopping malls, cinemas, playgrounds and other public spaces reopened starting May 14, the day this photo was taken. 

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16 of 30 Stefan Wermuth/AFP via Getty Images

Switzerland: Training, with extra space

During a May 11 Wushu martial arts training session in Bern, Switzerland, participants practice on a floor divided with white lines for social distancing. 

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17 of 30 Dimitris Lampropoulos/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Greece: Manicure through a divider

A masked and gloved worker at a beauty salon in Athens, Greece, gives a customer a manicure from behind a plexiglass screen on May 4. That's the day the Greek government gradually started to ease restrictions on citizens' movement and allow retail stores and businesses to operate in stages.

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18 of 30 Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Ireland: Small groups convene in public

Friends from different households keep their distance while meeting in a Belfast park on May 19. Ireland is moving into the second phase of easing restrictions. 

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19 of 30 John Thys/AFP via Getty Images

Belgium: Socially distant retail lines

Customers practice social distancing in line at a bike shop in Namur, Belgium, on May 11, the first day of a partial lifting of the lockdown introduced two months earlier to fight the spread of COVID-19. 

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20 of 30 Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Israel: Body scans at airport

A machine scans body temperatures at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on May 14 as the airport gradually began to resume operations with new guidelines in place. 

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21 of 30 Robin Utrecht/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Studios

The Netherlands: Dividers between theater seats

Before the Markant Uden theater in Uden, Netherlands, welcomed audiences again on June 1, it did a test run with plexiglass screens behind seats and partitions in between them. The theater presents live performances. 

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22 of 30 Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

China: Students measured for fever

Primary school students get their temperatures taken as they enter school in Pingdingshan City, China, on May 8.

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23 of 30 Ahmed Salahuddin/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Bangladesh: Praying farther apart

Muslims pray at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on May 8, while observing social distancing. The government has allowed mass prayers to resume as part of its move to ease the lockdown imposed as a preventive measure against COVID-19. Before entering the mosque, worshippers get sprayed with disinfectant. 

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24 of 30 Lars Baron/Getty Images

Germany: An altered gym experience

At a gym in Dinslaken, Germany, on May 11, every other treadmill is taped off to keep gym goers from getting too close. As authorities continue to ease lockdown restrictions nationwide, businesses are reopening, tourism is becoming possible again and more children are back in school. At the same time, health experts are monitoring infection rates carefully for signs of any resurgence. 

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France: Shampoo bowl distancing

Employees of the Tchip hair salon in northern France carry out a test run on May 8 before officially reopening for business. The test included markers on the floor to keep customers far enough away from one another. 

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26 of 30 Eric Piermont/AFP via Getty Images

France: More salon cautionary measures

At another French salon, this one in Paris, Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire (left) speaks on May 5 with a hairdresser who prepared his salon for reopening with dividers between shampoo bowls.

shoppingmall
27 of 30 Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Poland: Temperature checks at shopping malls

A guard outside the Bonarka mall in Krakow, Poland, checks visitors' body temperatures as they enter the shopping center on May 8. Shopping centers across the country have started to reopen after seven weeks of lockdown, but with limits on the number of shoppers allowed in. 

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28 of 30 Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images

Germany: Distancing lessons for students

In the schoolyard at the Petri primary school in Dortmund, Germany, on May 7, students get a lesson on social distancing from school director Juan Carlos Boeck. The school reopened the week of May 4 for some pupils following lockdown. 

boardingschool
29 of 30 Eko Siswono Toyudho/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Indonesia: Studying, but not too close

Students at an Islamic boarding school in Bogor, Indonesia, keep their distance while reciting Quran at the Daarul Quran Mosque on May 8. 

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30 of 30 John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images

Germany: Museum reminds visitors to stay apart

At the German Historical Museum in Berlin, a sign on the floor at the entrance to the exhibit "Hannah Arendt and the Twentieth Century" reminds visitors to keep their distance.  

The exhibition opens May 11 and traces Arendt's observations on subjects including totalitarianism, anti-Semitism, refugees and the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem. Museums across Germany are beginning to reopen as authorities continue to ease coronavirus lockdown measures. 

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