Amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic and a stay-at-home order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a man has Daley Plaza to himself as he walks through the Loop, as seen from the roof of City Hall during the Wednesday morning commute, April 1, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
“The order takes effect 5 p.m. Saturday, March 21, 2020. In addition to the stay at home provisions, it also orders all local government units across the state to halt all evictions and bans gatherings of more than 10 people.” — Gov. J.B. Pritzker, announcing a statewide stay-at -home order due to COVID-19
Three years ago, the hustle and bustle that is Chicago went silent.
Expressways and roads, sidewalks and parks were deserted. Schools, churches, office buildings, even funeral homes were closed. Trains stopped running, restaurants were shuttered.
The front page of the Sun-Times said it all in two words.
It was the surreal dawn of COVID-19 shutdowns, and many thought they would last two or three weeks at the most.
It took much longer than that, and three years later, with the world relatively back on track for some time already, we look back at some of the images of our quiet city.
Normally, Anish Kapoor’s famous sculpture Cloud Gate, aka “The Bean,” is one of Chicago’s biggest draws. But coronavirus has seen it closed to visitors in Millennium Park, Thursday morning, March 19, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Chicago police barricades block access to the Lakefront Trail at Fullerton Avenue as the area remains closed to pedestrians amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic, Monday afternoon, March 30, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Number of people on a downtown Chicago sidewalk on West Madison Street near North State Street during a normally bustling weekday morning commute: zero. Number of pigeons: one, Thursday, March 19, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
A view of the intersection of North Damen and North Milwaukee avenues from the Damen Blue Line Station, Friday afternoon, March 27, 2020. (Brian Rich/Sun-Times)
A lone pedestrian walks past the closed Neiman Marcus store at 737 N. Michigan Ave. on the Magnificent Mile, Thursday, March 19, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
The 1500 block of North Milwaukee Avenue sits mostly empty, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Annie Costabile/Sun-Times)
Amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic, a man has the sidewalk to himself on West Lake Street near North Dearborn Street in the Loop, Tuesday afternoon, March 24, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
There are almost no vehicles and few pedestrians on North LaSalle Street near West Madison Street in the Loop shortly before noon, Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic, a man has the sidewalk to himself as he smokes a cigarette at the corner of North LaSalle and West Randolph streets in the Loop, Tuesday afternoon, March 24, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Few pedestrians and minimal traffic could be seen on North Dearborn and West Lake streets near the Goodman Theatre in the Loop, Tuesday afternoon, March 24, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic and a stay-at-home order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker, few pedestrians and minimal traffic could be seen on North LaSalle Street near West Randolph Street in the Loop from the roof of City Hall during the Wednesday morning commute, April 1, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
A lone moving vehicle is seen on West Hubbard and North Clark streets, Tuesday afternoon, March 24, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
The sidewalk on North Wabash Avenue at Washington Street was so empty on a weekday morning that there was plenty of room to sit down with little worry of getting in the way of other pedestrians, Thursday, March 19, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
The platform sits empty at the Damen Blue Line Station, Friday afternoon, March 27, 2020. (Brian Rich/Sun-Times)
A pedestrian walks alone on the sidewalk near the intersection of West Greenleaf and North Ravenswood Avenues in Rogers Park, Friday afternoon, March 27, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic and a stay-at-home order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker, few pedestrians and minimal traffic could be seen in the Loop from the roof of City Hall during the Wednesday morning commute, April 1, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
A view of the intersection of North Damen and North Milwaukee avenues from the Damen Blue Line Station, Friday afternoon, March 27, 2020. (Brian Rich/Sun-Times)
A morning crowd of one on North LaSalle Street, viewed from the top of City Hall, Wednesday, April 1, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Welcome to a near-barren Loop sidewalk on North State Street at West Madison Street during a weekday lunch hour post-pandemic shutdowns, Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
A lone commuter occupies the CTA State/Lake ‘L’ platform in the Loop, Tuesday afternoon, March 24, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic and a stay-at-home order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Daley Plaza sits nearly empty in the Loop, as seen from the roof of City Hall, during the Wednesday morning commute, April 1, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
A lone pedestrian walks under the Damen Blue Line Station in Wicker Park, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Annie Costabile/Sun-Times)
The mail goes through, for now, as demonstrated by this United States Postal Service semi driving past the Thompson Center in the Loop, as viewed from the roof of City Hall, Wednesday, April 1, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Many Loop office spaces sit empty amid a stay-at-home order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker, m, as seen from the roof of City Hall, Wednesday morning, April 1, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Traffic is light, or nonexistent, on I-90/94, Monday, March 23, 2020. (Brian Rich/Sun-Times)
The intersection sits empty at North Dearborn and West Randolph streets during the shelter-in-place order made by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Monday, March 23, 2020. (Brian Rich/Sun-Times)
A message board outside the Lyric Opera of Chicago, which has canceled performances of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle, urges people to “stay healthy” and promises, “We’ll be back,” Thursday morning, March 19, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Federal Plaza sits empty on a usually busy weekday morning, Thursday, March 19, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
Amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic and a stay-at-home order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker, few pedestrians and minimal traffic could be seen in the Loop, looking east on West Washington Street from the roof of City Hall during the Wednesday morning commute, April 1, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
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