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See the emptiness as coronavirus closes landmarks, stadiums, amusement parks

Disneyland. The Trevi Fountain. Parliament in Spain. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, these spaces sit largely abandoned.

Leslie Gornstein
Leslie Gornstein is a senior editor with CBS Interactive. For the past two decades, she's covered consumer and B-to-B tech; biotech; entertainment and various other subjects that seemed interesting at the time. She's the author of The A-List Playbook (Skyhorse) and she lives in Los Angeles.
Leslie Gornstein
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1 of 58 Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images

The loneliest place on Earth

The coronavirus pandemic has led to infections and deaths around the world, with numbers continuing to rise daily.

Italy's government has put the country on lockdown. Officials in states across the US have closed K-12 schools. Colleges have switched from holding in-person classes to remote learning. Major sporting events have been canceled. Even daily shopping trips and simple strolls down the street aren't the same. 

This gallery shows the eerie emptiness in the age of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. 

Here, the entry gate to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, is locked on March 16, 2020. The entire Disneyland resort has shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

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A match without fans

Here are two German soccer teams playing in front of an empty stadium near the Dutch border on Feb. 9, 2020.

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The Colosseum

Italy has cracked down on travel and public gatherings, and even closed most stores, amid the coronavirus pandemic. It's also shuttered museums and heritage sites, including the iconic Colosseum.

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The Louvre

The scene is similarly eerie in Paris. Here's the deserted pyramid entrance to the famous Louvre museum. 

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5 of 58 Maxar Satellite Imagery

Empty, silent, eerie

Here's the iconic pier in Santa Monica, California, as captured by Maxar Satellite Imagery. The image on the left was taken on March 11, 2020; the second, March 22.

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The other loneliest place on Earth?

People wearing face masks visit Shanghai's Disneytown complex on March 10, 2020. The entertainment district has partially reopened, after shutting down as a precaution, though the adjacent Disneyland amusement park remains closed. 

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7 of 58 Kent German/CNET

Empty SFO

The security line at San Francisco International Airport's terminal 2 is startlingly empty on the night of Thursday, March 12, 2020. 

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8 of 58 Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies

Before and after: Central Park, NYC

No one's hanging out in New York's iconic Central Park, if this before-and-after satellite image from Maxar Technologies is any indication. The first image was taken on Nov. 4, 2019, the second on March 11, 2020. 

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No waiting ... and no rides, either

Universal Studios, near Los Angeles, is a ghost town during the coronavirus epidemic, as proven in these satellite images from Maxar. The image on the left was taken on March 18, 2020, the one on the right on March 22.

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Empty playground in London

A view of a closed children's playground on March 24, 2020 in London. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced strict lockdown measures urging people to stay at home and only leave the house for basic food shopping, exercise once a day and essential travel to and from work. 

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Spain's parliament

Spain's parliament ceased its activities after one of its deputies tested positive for the coronavirus. 

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12 of 58 Angela Lang/CNET

LinkedIn's SF office

LinkedIn's office in San Francisco on March 10, 2020, looks sparse. Many tech companies have told their employees to work from home. 

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The Western Wall

People pray at the nearly deserted Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, on March 12, 2020. Israel has imposed a two-week quarantine on all travelers entering the country. 

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14 of 58 Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies

Before and after: Phoenix airport

The coronavirus has brought travel to an almost screeching halt at the Phoenix airport in Arizona. The Maxar Technologies satellite image on the left is from March 5, 2020, the second, from March 16.

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Boxing in Bangkok

The seats are empty during a Thai boxing match at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok on March 10, 2020.  

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Containment zone

Toys are left abandoned at the Westchester Day School in New York on March 10, 2020. Officials put an area of the county in New Rochelle in a containment area after finding a "cluster" of coronavirus infections there. 

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Tech companies clear out

A nearly empty Fuze office in Boston on March 10, 2020. The 150 on-site employees are being asked to work from home amid coronavirus concerns. 

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Empty San Francisco streets

Market Street in downtown San Francisco, usually a bustling thoroughfare on a Tuesday midday, appears virtually empty on March 10, 2020. Employees around the country are working remotely to protect themselves from coronavirus. 

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Mecca's Grand Mosque

An aerial view shows an empty white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque on March 6, 2020.

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20 of 58 Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies

Skiing anyone? Anyone?

The ski season has dried up at Killington Ski Resort in Vermont. The first satellite image was taken on Jan. 30, 2020, the second on March 16.

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21 of 58 Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images

Empty Italian streets

A street in Venice, Italy, is completely empty March 8, 2020, the day after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced a "national emergency" imposed quarantines on the Lombardy and Veneto regions, which contain roughly a quarter of the country's population. The quarantines were later extended to the whole country. 

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Finally: A parking spot

The parking structure at the popular Grove outdoor mall in Los Angeles is usually quite packed, as it was on March 11, 2020. The image on the right was taken on March 22.

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23 of 58 Sarah Tew/CNET

Empty Burger King

A familiar empty-restaurant scene at a Burger King off Highway 81 in Virginia on March 16, 2020. 

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Few travelers

A view of the check-in counters at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.

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Nashville's Bridgestone Arena

Here's Nashville's Bridgestone Arena after the Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournament was canceled amid coronavirus concerns on March 12, 2020.

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Tourist buses

An aerial photo shows tourist buses parked on a lot near Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on March 8, 2020.

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Quiet in Jerusalem

Few tourists and pilgrims are seen outside the Dome of the Rock mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem on March 8, 2020.

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Seattle's Pike Place Market

Seattle's usually bustling Pike Place Market sits mostly empty of patrons on March 10, 2020.

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'Ghost game'

Soccer pros play a "ghost game" near Germany's Dutch border on March 11, 2020.

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School's out in Washington

Here's Henry M. Jackson High School in Mill Creek, Washington, on Feb. 29, 2020. School district officials closed the school for three days of cleaning after a student tested positive.

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No roars, no chants

The Long Beach State and Cal Poly women's basketball teams play in the empty Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California, on March 10, 2020. 

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32 of 58 Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images

No more adventures ... for now

The entrance to Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California, is deserted on Monday, March 16, 2020. The entire resort has shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak.

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Full cases, empty stores

A cafe full of treats sits nearly empty in San Francisco.

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Tram in Turin

This tram in the heart of Turin, Italy, is nearly deserted on March 10, 2020.

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Beijing's financial district

A man wearing a face mask walks on a deserted street in the financial district in Beijing on March 3, 2020.

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Barren shelves

Some shelves sit empty on March 4, 2020, in a quiet Australian supermarket.

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Vendors feel the effects

A street vendor stands by his bread cart in the deserted Manger Square, opposite the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on March 6, 2020.

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European Parliament

European Parliament members sit in a nearly empty room in Brussels on March 9, 2020.

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Effects in the UK

Here's a deserted punt station in Cambridge in the UK, as the city feels the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. 

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Stadium in Turin

A boy cycles across a deserted area by the Juventus Allianz stadium in Turin, Italy, on March 10, 2020.

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The Pantheon

This is the deserted Piazza della Rotonda and Pantheon monument in Rome on March 10, 2020.

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The Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps are silent in Rome after sunset on March 10, 2020.

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Cluster found

New Rochelle High School in New York is shuttered on March 10, 2020. Officials put part of the area in a containment zone after finding a cluster of coronavirus infections there. 

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Quiet at city hall

New Rochelle City Hall in New York looks deserted, too, on March 10, 2020. 

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Piazza Vittorio Veneto in Turin

A bar is closed in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, in the center of Turin, Italy, on March 10, 2020.

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St. Mark's Square, Venice

The usually packed Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark's Square, in Venice on March 11, 2020.

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Saint Peter's Square

On March 11, 2020, the Vatican's deserted Saint Peter's Square.

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Italy's Linate airport

A British Airways check-in area at Milan, Italy's Linate airport on March 11, 2020.

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Trevi Fountain, Rome

A wide angle photo shows the deserted Trevi Fountain in central Rome on March 11, 2020, the day after Italy imposed national restrictions on its 60 million people.

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Jerusalem train station

An empty hall inside a train station in Jerusalem on March 11, 2020.

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All's quiet in this church

The Cathedral Church of Resurrection, inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, is quiet on March 11, 2020.

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Pakistani-India border checkpoint

Usually, tourists gather daily at this Pakistani-India border checkpoint to watch a "retreat" ceremony. But on March 7, those visitors were turned away by police as a preventive measure.

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UN headquarters

An outside view of United Nations' headquarters March 11, 2020, after it closed to the public as a precaution.

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Quiet in San Francisco

Lunchtime on Market Street in downtown San Francisco is usually loud and crowded. Not so on March 10, 2020.

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San Francisco's Market Street

Market Street in San Francisco on March 10, 2020, looks mostly empty. 

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Few for lunch

There's usually a line for this popular food truck at the Gasser Garden lot in downtown San Francisco, seen here March 10.

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Feeling the effects in London

The top deck of a London bus on March 12, 2020.

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San Francisco's Embarcadero

A man takes a solitary walk near San Francisco's Embarcadero on March 8, 2020.

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