World’s Playgrounds Silent, Lonely Amid Pandemic | PHOTOS
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This Photo Shows An Empty Playground In Mumbai, India
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Police Tape Is Used To Keep People From Using A Playground That Was Closed In An Effort To Help Prevent The Spread Of The Coronavirus
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Playground Equipment Is Wrapped In Crime Scene Tape To Prevent Its Use As Part Of The Effort To Slow The Spread Of The Coronavirus Tuesday
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People Walks Past A Fenced Off, Empty Playground In Overpeck County Park In Leonia
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Empty Swings Sit Idle In A Park As Families Stay Home Amid A Government Ordered Quarantine To Help Contain The Spread Of The Coronavirus In Asuncion
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Children’s Playground Toys Are Closed Off As A Deterrent To Help Curb The Spread Of The Coronavirus In Hong Kong
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A Swing Set At A Public Playground Area Is Closed With Security Tape That Reads In Spanish
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A Sign With Corrected Spelling, Tells Visitors The Playground At The Community Park Is Closed Until Further Notice Due To COVID 19
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A Playground Toy At Tel Aviv’s Beachfront Is Wrapped In Tape To Prevent Public Access During The Coronavirus
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A Playground Sits Deserted Backdropped By A Mural Featuring Children With A Message That Reads In Spanish
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A Playground Covered In Snow Is Closed At Normafa During During The Coronavirus In Budapest
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A Man Sleeps On A Bench At A Deserted Playground Amid A Nationwide Quarantine To Slow The Spread Of The New Coronavirus, In Caracas, Venezuela
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A Children’s Playground Is Seen In “Ahia Dulce” Beach, During A Lockdown Due To The Coronavirus
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A Caution Tape Cordons Off An Empty Children’s Playground With An Orthodox Church Seen In The Background
Instead of joyful peals of laughter from children, one hears only the chirping of birds, or perhaps a lone car rumbling past on the street.
Like other suddenly empty public spaces, playgrounds across the world have fallen silent and abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic.
From Moscow to Mumbai, jungle gyms and sandboxes lie lonely and unused behind caution tape, temporary fencing and signs announcing closures.
In Caracas, Venezuela, a man sleeps on a bench that in better times might be used by a parent watching a little one run about with her friends.
In Budapest, Hungary, a playground encircled by a strip of yellow plastic is blanketed in undisturbed snow from an early-spring storm.
And in Santiago, Chile, swing chains are knotted together to keep them from being used.
Children are believed to play a significant role in transmitting the virus, even if they rarely fall ill.
In hard-hit Spain, kids have even been under a total confinement order for many weeks, though the government is allowing them outside for brief periods each day beginning April 27 as the country slowly begins emerging from lockdown.
There and elsewhere, it will be a while longer before playgrounds are once again places of laughter and mirth.