Coronavirus Closures Leave Chicago Streets A Near Ghost Town

CHICAGO (CBS) -- With the St. Patrick's Day Parade cancelled and offices around the city closed, the streets of Chicago had a different feeling Saturday. The city of nearly three million people was a near ghost town.

The museum campus is closed. You won't be seeing animals at the Lincoln Park Zoo either. Need a new iPhone? Apple stores are closed. All the creature comforts we usual turn to on a Saturday are out of reach.

It's the new normal for the next few weeks in the wake of the pandemic.

"We're kind of shocked how much is closed," said Jordan St. John.

Even more jarring is Saturday is a day Chicago takes pride in. The St. Patrick's Day Parade has been a tradition since 1962 and normally brings hundreds of thousands from around the world.

"You'd be seeing lots of people, lots of cars, lots of people out and about yelling," said St. John. "You're not seeing any of that.

There were no hoards of people and no bright green river dye. But some were determined to cling to the spirit where they could.

Navy Pier is one of the few tourist attractions still open, but the people who run it were wearing face masks and vigorously wiping down seats every two hours for a crowd of almost no one.

Despite the governor's hopes that people will stay inside to keep the virus from spreading in crowds, several could be seen scurrying inside Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, the state's most lucrative casino. But they only have a day left before the casino becomes one of 10 in the state to shut their doors.

In Rosemont more store were open than closed, but no one would know it by walking around the empty streets.

Clarees Peoples works at the theater. Friday night, when business for them is normally at its peak, she was sent home two hours early.

"Very, very slow she said. "We probably had less than five customers yesterday."

And the Irish Pub was suffering a familiar fate felt around the state where restaurant business is down 60% to 70% because of COVID-19. The pub that normally has lines around the corner on St. Patrick's Day had its doors open, but no one was really walk through.

The Illinois Restaurant Association said restaurants nationwide are hurting. Revenue is down between 40% and 70%.

During this uncertain and unsettling time health officials stress that these measures are temporary.

In:
• St. Patrick's Day