Coronavirus is slowly turning Bay Area into a ghost town

[Spartan]

On a regular Tuesday morning in the Bay Area, everything is busy – from bridges and traffic to bustling BART trains and lack of parking at stations.

But none of that was the case this morning as more and more people are apparently staying home amid the growing coronavirus outbreak.

A photo sent to KRON4 by viewer Gina Rodriguez shows an empty BART parking lot in Concord at 8 a.m.; not normal by any standards.

Photo: Gina Rodriguez

The video above shows the Embarcadero BART station around the same time, with only a handful of people seen milling around the station compared to the hundreds that usually flock the area on a regular morning.

BART officials tell KRON4 last week there was an 8% drop in ridership.

A decrease in the population is evident in part to some big companies in the area telling their employees to work from home, such as Facebook, Salesforce, Amazon, Microsoft, and Twitter.

There are 88 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Bay Area.

Several schools around the Bay Area have also closed or modified their class schedules amid the outbreak.

Even traffic is seeming lighter, too.

KRON4’s Robin Winston reported Tuesday seeing fewer commuters on the Bay Bridge on what would normally be a very busy morning.

Im also seeing fewer commutes on Bay Area bridge this morning. Bridges have already thinned out when normally on a Tuesday at this time, they are pack. So yup they are working from home and so many schools are closed or offering online classes.

— Robin Winston (@RobinWinstonTV) March 10, 2020

[argadorn]

all quarantined and wfh .....

[tacobell fan]

wuhan tho polisthe SFO entha 

[ARYA]

all remote

[ARYA]

Just now, tacobell fan said:

wuhan tho polisthe SFO entha 

SFO ekkada wuhan ekkada 

[tacobell fan]

Just now, ARYA said:

all remote

Anna shopping malls closed?

[ARYA]

Just now, tacobell fan said:

Anna shopping malls closed?

no just went to livermore outlet nice and peaceful 

[MiryalgudaMaruthiRao]

Just now, tacobell fan said:

Anna shopping malls closed?

no

[tacobell fan]

1 minute ago, ARYA said:

SFO ekkada wuhan ekkada 

Geography location tho pani enti anna. Ghost Town can be anywhere

[JambaKrantu]

Next Irvine adi oka chinkitown

[Anta Assamey]

Naaku aite office ki vellataniki traffic ledu .... Just taking 15 min ... 

[ARYA]

Just now, tacobell fan said:

Geography location tho pani enti anna. Ghost Town can be anywhere

okati east inkoti west ani @TOM_BHAYYA anna sepamand 

[tacobell fan]

Just now, ARYA said:

no just went to livermore outlet nice and peaceful 

[Spartan]

4 minutes ago, Anta Assamey said:

Naaku aite office ki vellataniki traffic ledu .... Just taking 15 min ... 

maaku 14 day wfh icharu...ninna ivala vacha..

case confirmed ivala..so wfh from tomorrow..

[Amrita]

28 minutes ago, Anta Assamey said:

Naaku aite office ki vellataniki traffic ledu .... Just taking 15 min ... 

Chusara enta mandi tyagalu chesaro miru office ki velladaniki easy ga undalani