World’s popular tourist sites emptied by coronavirus

Around the world, countries are experiencing striking declines in tourism as people have been instructed to avoid large groups and limit travel

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St. Peter's Square is seen behind a barricade erected at the edge of St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, in Rome. Italy’s most famous landmarks were left devoid of life due to national emergency-mandated quarantine

Italian municipality police stand by empty Spanish Steps, in Rome

Empty chairs and tables are lined up outside a restaurant in St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy

Campo dei Fiori open-air market is empty, in Rome

A view of the Colosseum closed following the government's new prevention measures on public gatherings, in Rome

A view of the closed doors of the Vatican Museums, Vatican

A cafe' is empty in Piazza del Duomo square, in Florence, Italy

A pigeon standing in an almost empty Duomo cathedral square, in downtown Milan, Italy

People walking in an almost empty St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy

Parked gondolas at the lagoon on a rainy day in Venice

Saudi Arabia emptied Islam's holiest site, Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, for what they say sterilization over fears of coronavirus, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

The Louvre said it was restricting entry to the world's most visited museum. Only people who have already reserved a ticket online, or those who normally benefit from free entry, will be allowed into the Paris landmark

Empty seats of Spanish parliament's lower house in Madrid, Spain. The Spanish parliament's lower house has cancelled its activities for a week after a prominent lawmaker was tested positive for the COVID-19 disease caused by a new coronavirus

The Church of the Nativity that was closed as a preventive measure against the coronavirus is seen in Bethlehem, West Bank

National Theatre in Prague was closed as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, Czech Republic. The Czech Republic is banning all public events with more than 100 people and is closing schools in response to the new coronavirus outbreak in Europe

German parliament announced that visitors won't be allowed to access the glass dome of the Reichstag building anymore because of the coronavirus outbreak in Germany

Italy was put on nationwide lockdown after a government decree extended restrictions on movement from the hard-hit north to the rest of the country to prevent the spreading of coronavirus. Around the world, countries are experiencing striking declines in tourism as people have been instructed to avoid large groups and limit travel.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global health emergency and named the virus COVID-19. Cases of coronavirus have been reported in over 100 countries, including Russia. The largest outbreaks of COVID-19 outside of China have been detected in South Korea, Iran and Italy. According to WHO, the total amount of people infected has surpassed 110,000 globally, while over 4,000 people have died.