When sports shut down around the world in early March due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus, it left the stadiums and arenas that previously hosted games empty and desolate. However, those temples of sport have been repurposed since to help in the fight against COVID-19.
A photo report from The New York Times shows stadiums from Brazil to the United Kingdom and the United States are being used not for competition, but for public health. Testing sites have been erected in the vast parking lots that accompany stadiums, from Marlins Park in Miami to Cardiff City Football Club Stadium in Wales.
Meanwhile, makeshift hospitals and temporary morgues have been set up inside the cavernous stadiums, ranging from Rio de Janeiro’s world famous Maracanã Stadium serving as a hospital to Icahn Stadium in New York City serving as a housing ground for refrigerated trailers that double as morgues.
It’s a strange time, filled with worry and fear, but these stadiums work as a reminder of the power of human ingenuity in times of crises. Similarly to how the Superdome in New Orleans was used as a shelter after Hurricane Katrina, these venues have pulled double duty to help ease the burden on the overwhelmed healthcare systems around the world, as well as providing some comfort for those most in need, such as the temporary shelter built in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefectural Budokan martial arts stadium.
With no end in sight to the pandemic, any amount of help to ease the emergency response services is invaluable, and given how much time and money was spent on constructing stadiums and arenas, it’s only logical that they are used to combat this global crisis.
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Read the full story at The New York Times
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