The London tourist hotspot of Abbey Road’s zebra crossing which is famed due to being an album cover for The Beatles has been repainted amid the city being locked down due to the coronavirus.
Usually, the tourist trap is full of visitors to London taking the opportunity to pose just like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr did all those years ago for that iconic 1969 album cover.
This footfall has disappeared since Boris Johnson ordering a lockdown on Britain earlier this week which meant nobody would be using the famous crossing and maintenance crew took this opportunity to give the crossing a refresh.
Since 2010, the landmark has held protected status in the UK which makes it the first street crossing receive this level of recognition which puts it on a par with some of Britain’s most famous buildings and monuments.
“This London zebra crossing is no castle or cathedral but, thanks to the Beatles and a 10-minute photoshoot one August morning in 1969, it has just as strong a claim as any to be seen as part of our heritage,” John Penrose, the former Minister for Tourism and Heritage, told reporters at the time of the announcement.
The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease was first officially identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei in China. As of March 27th, more than 540,847 cases of COVID-19 have been officially confirmed but the actual number is thought to be much higher due to substantial under-reporting of cases.
With more than 24,294 people having died from the virus, COVID-19 has now spread into more than 180 other countries—including mainland Europe, South America and North America. Given the exponential growth in cases in countries like Italy, Spain and the UK, the WHO have now stated that Europe was the current centre of the pandemic.