Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
Malls around the world are standing nearly empty as fear over the spread of the coronavirus causes people to avoid public spaces and increasingly confine to their homes.
We compiled a collection of eerie images of malls everywhere that have transformed into ghost towns.
The malls are everywhere from Washington State to the Philippines and Italy.
Malls around the world are growing increasingly empty as coronavirus spreads, stoking fear over congregating in public spaces.
The World Health Organization officially declared the outbreak a pandemic on March 11, as the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 127,000 people in over 100 countries. The rapid spread of the virus has prompted nationwide lockdowns in both Italy and El Salvador, and cancellations of everything from major conferences like SXSW to sporting events like NBA games.
Since the coronavirus spreads from person-to-person contact, WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending "social distancing" - maintaining a distance of six feet from others and limiting social interaction.
Advertisement
As a result, public places like malls are becoming increasingly devoid of shoppers, essentially transforming into ghost towns.
Keep scrolling to see the eerie effects that the coronavirus is having on malls and retail around the world.
At the Erin Mills Town Centre in Ontario, Canada, there wasn't a shopper in sight in the "usually busy mall" on the evening of March 10, David Michaels wrote on Twitter.
The scene was equally bleak at the Burlington Mall in Massachusetts.
"In the wake of the coronavirus scare, tonight it was nearly empty," Marissa Tannis wrote on Twitter of the Burlington Mall.
Elsewhere in the Burlington Mall, the scene was just as grim.
Though flowers were in full bloom at the Stanford Shopping Center in California, there was not a single passerby on March 9.
"This is at a mall in Bellevue [Washington], one of the current epicenters for the outbreak, so people are avoiding crowds," wrote @tinajkl on Twitter.
There was not a soul to be seen in the Auchan mall in Mesagne, Italy, just days before a nationwide lockdown was implemented.
"I don't know how the situation is in the rest of the world, but here in Italy it seems to live in a freaking movie," Al Zullino wrote on Twitter.
On a recent afternoon at Festival Mall in the Philippines, the parking lot was completely empty.
Inside didn't seem much better at around 3 p.m. "The first time I've seen this place somewhat quiet and empty," Yzabella Ainna wrote on Twitter.
Elsewhere in the Philippines, this Starbucks at the SM City Fairview mall was barren.
"I saw an empty Starbucks for the first time in my life. They didn't have customers at all til my friend I walked in. This branch is never empty since it is inside a mall and there are call centers nearby," Gigil Hadid wrote on Twitter.
There were only a few people spotted out and about at the Orion Mall in Bangalore, India.
The food court of a shopping mall in Lucena City in the Philippines was also sparsely populated.
Look: Almost empty Jolibee branch at a shopping mall in Lucena City due to COVID-19 scare despite the fact that Quezon province is virus free. #COVID19pic.twitter.com/NHyDEakM34
