Fear of the spreading illness has led to a run on sales of face masks, empty store shelves and the disruption of travel. Despite evidence that most people who aren’t sick don’t need to wear them, the face masks are seen everywhere.
As cases of the coronavirus increase in Italy, Iran, South Korea, the United States and elsewhere, AP photographers around the world are capturing the impact on daily life. Fear of the spreading illness has led to a run on sales of face masks, empty store shelves and the disruption of travel. Despite evidence that most people who aren’t sick don’t need to wear them, the face masks are seen everywhere. These images highlight the widespread effects, including the temporary closure of Tokyo Disneyland and a dearth of tourists in Venice. (Image: PTI)
2/23
Shiite pilgrims walk outside the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraq. (Image: AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
3/23
A girl wears a mask inside a bus in Hong Kong. (Image: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
4/23
A commuter wears a face mask in the New York City transit system. (Image: AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A firefighter disinfects a mosque to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in northern Tehran, Iran. (Image: AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
6/23
A woman wearing face mask walks past empty shelf of tissue papers at a supermarket in Hong Kong. (Image: AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
7/23
A worker cleans his goggles to spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea. (Image: AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
8/23
Two women rush to catch a train after visiting Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, near Tokyo. The amusement park will be closed from Saturday until March 15 in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. (Image: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Soldiers wear protective suits before the arrival of Brazilians repatriated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus, at the Annapolis Air Force Base, in Anapolis city, Goias state, Brazil. (Image: AP Photo/Beto Barata)
10/23
A child cries as he waits in line to board a plane for Beijing at the airport in Hong Kong. (Image: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
11/23
A lift operator stands inside a dedicated lift for people suspected to be infected with the new coronavirus at the Government Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, India. (Image: AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
12/23
Journalist are reflected on the glass of a room near a board showing the products of the Mengniu dairy factory in Beijing. (Image: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
13/23
Tourists wearing protective masks pose for a photograph at the Rialto bridge as the sun sets in Venice, Italy. (Image: AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
14/23
A commuter wears a face mask in the New York City transit system. (Image: AP Photo/John Minchillo)
15/23
Customers have lunch with a transparent plastic panel setup on the table to isolate each others to prevent virus spreading in Hong Kong. (Image: AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
16/23
A commuter looks through a water-stained window wearing a mask and gloves to help guard against the Coronavirus, on a public bus in downtown Tehran, Iran. (Image: AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
17/23
Elderly women wearing protective face masks sit at a nursing home in Hong Kong. (Image: AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
18/23
Pedestrians walk as some of them wear masks in downtown Tehran, Iran. (Image: AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
19/23
People stop by a cash machine in the center of Codogno, near Lodi, Northern Italy. (Image: AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
20/23
A man wearing face mask walks at the Yaba Mainland hospital where an Italian citizen entered Nigeria from Milan on a business trip, the first case of the COVID-19 virus is being treated in Lagos Nigeria. (Image: AP Photo/ Sunday Alamba)
21/23
Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker sanitizes surfaces at the Coney Island Yard, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Image: AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
22/23
Tourists walk in front of a thermal scanner to check body temperatures as they arrive at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. (Image: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
23/23
A woman walks past murals adorning the walls of Garibaldi subway station, in Milan. (Image: AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
