Even space can now see the way coronavirus has impacted planet Earth. Some eerie images have been taken by satellite showing how social distancing has led to roads, streets, tourist spots empty and vacant.
Satellite images during lockdowns across Europe, Asia, and the US have shown Earth is increasingly becoming a ghost town in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Due to governmental lockdowns in various countries, streets are deserted nothing is open and places that were once always abuzz with people and activities, have now become vacant spots.
As people around the world are staying at home and practicing "social distancing," incredible views of some of the most crowded places on Earth have been captured and are making rounds of the internet.
Colosseum in Rome brings in around six million tourists a year according and it is completely empty right now.
Colorado-based Maxar Technologies have been scanning the planet for pop-up hospitals to help deal with the pandemic and revealed some eerie images in the meantime.
The two huge hospitals made in Wuhan in China to fight coronavirus are also seen from the space.
Large pits being dug in Iran to bury the victims of the coronavirus outbreak in that country are also seen in these images.
Aipports, rail stations, bus terminals, shopping malls, multiplexes, all are empty. These images from Maxar's WorldView satellites offer an eerie glimpse of the large-scale effects of the global pandemic, which has turned even the most densely populated cities into ghost towns.
This is why it matters
When effects of the virus are tracked from the space, more transparency is promoted that leads to better accountability for everyone trying to fight the pandemic.
Planet — a company that operates more than 100 Earth-imaging satellites, has taken pictures of before and after photos of crowded places and says that coronavirus 'social distancing' is something that has never happened before and Earth together has not seen such a lockdown before.
The big picture
It's all a big picture now of how coronavirus has taken over Earth. Satellite images also provide a sense of scope that can't be seen from the ground.
There are some positive sides of this lockdown too. A striking timelapse shows pollution clearing over China as the country enacted strict measures to slow the progression of the coronavirus crisis. There are images showing how air over Italy is clearing.
