Ghost town: How COVID-19 brought an eerie silence over St. John's

A photo essay by Paul Daly

For CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

April 5, 2020

When photographer Paul Daly went downtown for work one recent Friday night in St. John's, he could not believe his eyes. Several times over, in fact.

"There was space. So much space. It was the emptiness of it all," said Daly, who shot this series of photographs for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Atlantic Place atrium on Water Street is usually full of people looking for lunch or a snack. On this particular Thursday lunchtime, it's empty.

Newfoundland and Labrador announced its first case of COVID-19 on March 14. Within days, a public health emergency had been declared, with escalating orders that closed schools, shuttered numerous public services and shut down bars and countless other businesses.

Mile One Centre has gone silent. All Growlers and Edge games have been called off, and concerts and other activities have been cancelled.

Daly, a veteran freelance photographer whose work frequently brought him downtown, was struck first by the ease of finding a place to pull over — and to follow physical distancing rules.

"With events at Mile On [and elsewhere], I'm down there all the time," he said. "But I've never seen this. It was just ... the emptiness of it all."

It's usually bumper to bumper on Water Street on a Friday night. On the night of March 27, there were only a few cars to be seen.

On George Street, there were no vehicles waiting in the taxi lane, and no customers to hail one.

Standing atop the rooftop parkade in the old Bowring building on a Friday night, Daly compared the absence of Water Street traffic with what he would normally see on a typical weekend.

"There was lots of space, when you are not used to seeing space," he said.

On George Street, there were no revellers walking across the street, no lineups, no one smoking a cigarette.

"There was a sign that [told people to] line up here for taxis. But there was no lineup. And there were no taxis," he said.

"It was eerie."

Barber shops and salons were among the businesses ordered to close under N.L.'s public health emergency legislation.

Daly — conscious of staying clear of individuals — visited other locations. One included the Health Sciences Centre parking lot, which is almost always filled to capacity.

Parking spots are difficult to come by at the Health Sciences Centre — but not during the COVID-19 crisis. Clinics have been cancelled, only essential appointments are proceeding, and parking fees have been waived.

Schools across the province closed in mid-March. There is still some activity at St. Teresa’s School in St. John’s, though; a drive-through testing site has been established there.

"There's usually no place to park, with these huge crowds. So there was just this huge contrast."

One location in the city transfixed Daly.

Panic buying has become a recurring problem at some St. John's stores, with customers clearing out particular goods.

Residents are free to walk outdoors, but not everywhere. The City of St. John's has closed its parks, including Bowring Park, to encourage physical distancing.

The illuminated star on Cabot Tower was turned on after a suggestion from lawyer Jeff Brace. Days after this photo was taken, though, Parks Canada closed Signal Hill to traffic, for public health reasons.

Several days after the first positive cases of coronavirus were disclosed — and as businesses around them were shutting down — the non-profit organization Stella’s Circle, which works with many of the city's most vulnerable residents, turned on its illuminated “HOPE” sign. Ordinarily, it brightens the Rawlins Cross area in the days before Christmas.

Daly had never paid attention to the sign before.

"When I saw it, it struck me dead,” he said.

“It just hit me right to the core. Hope. Just hope.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit St. John's in March, Stella's Circle plugged in its illuminated "HOPE" sign outside its Military Road headquarters.

Giant letters spelling out H-O-P-E appear in the windows of a Stella's Circle building on Rawlin's Cross in St. John's.