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AP PHOTOS: Stadiums, arenas sit empty as coronavirus spreads

By The Associated PressMarch 2, 2020 GMT

FILE - Tomoyuki Sugano of the Yomiuri Giants pitches in front of empty stands at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo during a preseason baseball game between the Yomiuri Giants and the Yakult Swallows on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. Japan's professional baseball league said Thursday, Feb. 27, that it will play its 72 remaining preseason games in empty stadiums because of the threat of the spreading coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

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As the coronavirus spreads around the world, empty spaces are everywhere.

In the hardest-hit countries, people are staying away from sporting events, museums, concert halls and the beach. Some teams are even competing with no fans present.

In South Korea, pro basketball and volleyball games were played in thoroughly disinfected arenas with no spectators. Church services were canceled.

Preseason baseball games in Japan took place in deserted stadiums and horse races went ahead without spectators. Sunday’s Tokyo Marathon, which was expected to have 38,000 participants, was limited to elite runners. The race, which doubles as an Olympic trial for Japanese marathon runners, had just over 200 participants.

In Italy, many Ash Wednesday services were canceled and a soccer match between Inter Milan and Ludogorets was played without fans. In Paris, the “Mona Lisa” hung in a vacant room of the closed Louvre in Paris.

The Geneva International Motor Show was called off after the Swiss government banned all large events.

The virus has infected more than 89,000 people and killed over 3,000 worldwide. And while most cases were relatively mild, quarantines, supply-chain disruptions and reductions in tourism and business travel are wreaking havoc on the global economy.