COVID-19 Pandemic | Revisiting a world on the precipice, a year ago
To look at year-old photographs is to revisit a world divided. There were places where life had already been short-circuited by a raging plague -- and others where it was just becoming apparent that the monster was in the house.
Associated Press
March 10, 2021 / 12:45 PM IST
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To look at year-old photographs is to revisit a world divided. There were places where life had already been short-circuited by a raging plague -- and others where it was just becoming apparent that the monster was in the house. (Image: AP)
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In Madrid, store shelves are empty as residents prepare for a lockdown. The gates are locked to the Forbidden City in Beijing, guarded by masked guards. A single Palestinian workman sprays disinfectant at the Al-omari mosque in Gaza City. (Image: AP)
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Soldiers wearing protective face masks march past the closed entrance gates to the Forbidden City, usually crowded with tourists before the coronavirus outbreak in Beijing, March 12, 2020. (Image: AP)
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But in retrospect, a photo of a COVID-19 briefing by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Vice President Mike Pence, and other health advisers on March 10 -- a day before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic -- is a study in obliviousness. Eight people crowd the podium. None wears a mask. (Image: AP)
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So many of the photographs feature unadorned faces, and to 2021 eyes it is jarring. Is it possible that three Gonzaga University basketball players, celebrating a victory over St. Mary’s in the NCAA tournament, could hug barefaced? That members of Congress could crowd into elevators? That Indian reveler could dance rapturously in the streets on Holi, the Hindu festival of colors? (Image: AP)
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Journalists jammed together to question lawyers for Harvey Weinstein after his sentencing for rape and sexual assault; demonstrators clashed with police in Caracas, Venezuela. But in that very moment, teams garbed in protective equipment, head to foot, set out to disinfect the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak in that state. (Image: AP)
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The divide can be seen in Champions League games across Europe -- some were played before fans, and some were not for fear of spreading the disease. A full stadium was on hand to watch Kieran Trippier’s acrobatic shot for Atletico Madrid in Liverpool, England; there were fireworks but no crowd at the match between Paris-Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund in Paris. (Image: AP)
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And in Linz, Austria, alone, ghostlike fan wore a sheet and stood amid the empty seats. (Image: AP)
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Tourists take in the view from the Edge, the new observation deck on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards in New York on March 11, 2020. Edge is touted as the Western Hemisphere's highest outdoor sky deck. (Image: AP)
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Workers from a Servpro disaster recovery team wearing protective suits and respirators enter the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., to begin cleaning and disinfecting the facility, March 11, 2020, near Seattle. The nursing home is at the center of the coronavirus outbreak in Washington State. (Image: AP)
