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See what life is like with lockdowns, social distancing and self-isolation in Canada and around the world

Everyday life for people in Canada and across the globe has suddenly become unrecognizable, with millions staying at home, practicing social or physical distancing and self-isolating amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything from city streets and parks to restaurants, legislatures and popular tourist destinations are left eerily empty.

Deserted cities and empty streets and parks the new norm as millions adapt to life amid the COVID-19 pandemic

A person walks across an empty street in Toronto with a mask and gloves as protection against COVID-19. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

Scroll down for a look at how lockdowns, social or physical distancing and self-isolation have changed daily life for people in Canada and in cities around the world. 

Canada's biggest city

Drone video from high above Toronto shows impact of anti-coronavirus measures

5 years ago
Duration 0:30

Toronto is usually a bustling, thriving metropolis, but drone video taken from above the city on Tuesday shows the extreme impact of guidelines urging people to stay home.

Here, closure notices can be seen in shop windows.

(Paul Smith/CBC)

Protecting parks and playgrounds

A sign at a park in Toronto encourages people to practise physical distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Patrick Morrell/CBC)

Swings are taped off and closed at a park in Vancouver on Tuesday.

(Ben Nelms/CBC)

Self-isolation

Greg Stewart of Antigonish, N.S., and Charlotte Sullivan of Truro, N.S., both inspector specialists with Nova Scotia Environment, explain rules involving self-isolation to people on an incoming flight at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

(Communications Nova Scotia)

Empty Canadian cities

Few people are venturing out on Winnipeg streets due to a physical distancing order.

(Tyson Koschik/CBC)

And the streets of Moncton, N.B., are eerily empty.

(Guy Leblanc/CBC)

There was less traffic than normal on Montreal's Jacques Cartier Bridge during the morning rush hour on Wednesday.

(Charles Contant/CBC)

Vancouver's Downtown Eastside

A sanitation station is pictured in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver as people — some in violation of physical distancing guidelines — line up on the street to collect their unemployment cheques.

(Ben Nelms/CBC)

Two people fight over a mask in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver on Wednesday.

(Ben Nelms/CBC)

(Ben Nelms/CBC)

New shopping habits

Shoppers in Vancouver wait in line to enter a Superstore on Wednesday, with pylons in place to ensure proper physical distancing.

(Ben Nelms/CBC)

The shelves at this grocery store in Hamilton are nearly empty, but still boast several packages of toilet paper, one of the most sought-after items since the coronavirus pandemic began.

(Paul Smith/CBC)

A pair of abandoned latex gloves in a grocery store parking lot in Ottawa.

(Francis Ferland/CBC)

Canada's capital quiet

(Francis Ferland/CBC)

Social distance in the House

Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton speaks in the House of Commons as legislators convene to pass an emergency bill to help individuals and businesses through the economic crunch caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

(Blair Gable/Reuters)

Deserted D.C.

(Susan Ormiston/CBC)

Journalists practise physical distancing outside a meeting in Washington, D.C., to wrap up work on coronavirus economic aid legislation.

(Mary F. Calvert/Reuters)

U.S. President Donald Trump conducts the daily coronavirus briefing with reporters exhibiting physical distancing at the White House.

(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Traffic eases up in L.A.

A general view of the 110 freeway and downtown Los Angeles the day after California issued a stay-at-home order last week.

(Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Lockdown in Italy

A woman waits to be served behind yellow lines that mark the distance customers have to keep between them inside a grocery store in the Trastevere area in Rome, after the whole of Italy was put on lockdown in an unprecedented move to combat the coronavirus.

(Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)

The Grand Canal in Venice is empty after Italy tightened the lockdown measures to combat COVID-19. Despite the stringent measures introduced to try to stop the spread, cases in Italy grew by more than 6,000 on Thursday, with more than 8,200 people dead.

(Manuel Silvestri/Reuters)

European cities

A man wears a mask on the streets of London. 

(Stephanie Jenzer/CBC)

The image below shows the empty Iena Bridge near the Eiffel Tower after a lockdown was imposed to slow the rate of COVID-19 in Paris.

(Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

Physical distancing practices 

Staff of food delivery companies sit on physical distancing chairs as they wait for their customers' orders at a department store in Bangkok.

(Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters)

A man receives a coffee in a cart pulled by a rope after a Bangkok cafe adopted a physical distance policy for their customers amid fears of coronavirus.

(Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters)

Staying positive

A playful message left for customers is seen inside the window of a closed cafe in Altrincham, Britain.

(Phil Noble/Reuters)

Four-year-old Presley Muir and six-year-old Scotia Muir stand in front of a chalk sign they drew while trying to keep busy in North Vancouver. 

(Maggie MacPherson/CBC)