Venice canals clear as city tourist-free under coronavirus

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Venice canals clear as city tourist-free under coronavirus

Since March 9, the city like the rest of Italy has been a so-called 'red zone'

Published: March 21, 2020 12:51 AFP and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Digital Content Producer

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Copy of 695697-01-08-1584780501707 — Rome: The city of Venice is enjoying crystal clear waters in its world-famous canals due to a lack of debris from tourists and near-zero boat traffic under Italy's ongoing coronavirus lockdown. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 695753-01-08-1584780519599 — The clear waters are a tiny bright spot in the beleaguered but beautiful city, whose economy has been virtually wiped out since tourists fled the area beginning last month, spooked by the spread of coronavirus in the country's north. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 2020-03-18T135219Z_130494446_RC2DMF96IV0C_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-ITALY-VENICE-1584780532014 — Since March 9, the city like the rest of Italy has been a so-called "red zone," with hotels, restaurants, cafis and most businesses shuttered, and residents ordered to stay inside and avoid travel. Image Credit: REUTERS

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Copy of 694043-01-08-1584780522680 — That has had a drastic effect on Venice's normally polluted waters, where speedboats churn up mud, and discarded plastic and other garbage from tourists float in its canals. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 694138-01-08-1584780528239 — Images of the welcome change were first posted on a Facebook group "Venezia Pulita (Clean Venice)," with residents sharing photos of tiny fish swimming in usually opaque waters, or cormorant, egrets and other birds enjoying the lack of boat traffic in the city's canals. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 695706-01-08-1584780504608 — A view shows seaweed in clear waters in a Venice canal. | "Stay at home - and nature thanks you," commented one Italian woman, Monica La Rosa, on the site. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 2020-03-18T135550Z_1213639820_RC2DMF9DWB3G_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-ITALY-VENICE-1584780511443 — On Wednesday, only an occasional police or ambulance speedboat was seen in the nearly empty city, as lines of docked gondolas protected by blue covers bobbed under sunny skies. Image Credit: REUTERS

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Copy of 2020-03-18T135551Z_166458755_RC2DMF9PDBZ3_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-ITALY-VENICE-1584780515605 — The flight of tourists - over 5 million of whom visited Venice in 2018 - has shut down commerce within the city already reeling from disastrous flooding in November. Image Credit: Reuters

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Copy of 695732-01-08-1584780507380 — The "acqua alta," or high waters, submerged major low-lying areas of the city, including St Mark's Square, in up to 1.87 metres (6 feet) of water, the highest level since 1966. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 694099-01-08-1584780525616 — Venice is located in the Veneto region, which has the third highest cases of infections from coronavirus, at 3,214, and the fourth most cases of deaths, at 94. Image Credit: AFP

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