The disorienting silence in Taft Avenue during the COVID-19 lockdown

So, it has come to this.

The once hustling and bustling Taft Avenue goes eerily quiet during the new coronavirus pandemic.

The COVID-19 outbreak is like an invisible disaster that has happened. This isn’t normal and no one was prepared for it. Even richer countries are struggling in fighting the spread of this highly infectious virus.

There has been a lot of changes. June is right around the corner but schools remain closed. The once packed Taft Avenue is almost devoid of people. The area has become more and more silent.

The result can be disorienting – as if something out of a movie.

If you frequent Taft Avenue whether for school or business, you’re probably wondering what it looks like now that we are on lockdown.

Nick Hernandez, a resident of the area, took snapshots of Taft Avenue and shared them on Facebook on Saturday.

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Hernandez wrote:

TAFT during ECQ…

I’ve been living around Taft for almost 2 decades now…
Never seen it this quiet at this hour…
All you can see are men in fuchsia and in green (and no they’re NOT the archers).

Nakakamiss din pala yung traffic, busina ng mga kotse, yung makarinig ng “dude, pare, chong”, yung ingay ng LRT pag dumadaan, yung biglang may mag “can u make abot that blah blah?” out of nowhere… ?

I still can’t figure out what will be the “new norm” here after the ECQ…

Anyways…Just sharing these photos para dun sa mga nakakamiss ng Taft…
I hope we can go to back to the same ol TAFT ASAP…

Let’s celebrate LIFE after this ECQ!
See you guys SOON! ?

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Aside from food delivery guys, what can be seen on the nearly empty streets are medical professionals and policemen on checkpoints.

The silence of Taft Avenue somewhat contradicts how it used to be.

The hush is strange.

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Still, in some way, the eerieness gives a feeling that it is protecting you – that people are staying out of the streets now so we can stay together in the future.

Photos by Nick Hernandez

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