Coronavirus: Stunning photos show world under lockdown

‘Really, Earth needs a break from humanity... time for a long rest,’ says observer

A series of photos of deserted places around the world that would normally be bustling with people demonstrate the power of the coronavirus to transform life.

They show how society is at a standstill everywhere from Milan’s eerily quiet central station and the historic centre of Antwerp, Belgium, to empty motorways in Albania.

The Grand Mosque of Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, usually teeming with people for Friday prayers, sits in solitude.

Ranks of tourist buses sit idle in Thailand, while once-bustling theme parks are empty as holiday business has halted.

A cafe in the old city of Erbil, Iraq, has no customers during a curfew imposed by Iraqi Kurdish authorities, following an outbreak of coronavirus nearby.

Restaurant terraces are closed at the usually overcrowded Plaza Mayor in central Madrid, and in Krakow, Poland, a university campus has no students.

Nor are there signs of life at a Venice canal, while in Brussels, Belgium, supermarket shelves are empty after panic-buying.

Ahmed Abdelhady said on Twitter the photos showed: “Really, Earth needs a break from the humanity! I think [it’s] the time for a long rest.”

Countries around the world have closed their borders to travellers, and airlines worldwide have suspended entire routes.