Photos: MA Coronavirus Stay-At-Home Order Empties Public Spaces

WORCESTER, MA — The region's biggest shopping centers nearly empty. Route 9 looking like a Sunday morning during rush hour. A teenager skateboarding down an empty street lined with closed stores.

One day after Gov. Charlie Baker's stay-at-home advisory order went into effect, the streets, offices, and college campuses around the region are emptier than ever. The order forced nonessential businesses to closed, which means places like music stores and hair salons were shuttered along with schools, town halls, and many restaurants and bars.

Here are some scenes from around the region on Wednesday, the first full day Baker's advisory was in effect.

No One Shopping

On Wednesday morning, Shoppers World in Framingham was almost completely empty because nearly every store was closed. A few Best Buy employees stood outside the store waiting for customers who needed drive-up service.

It was the same story at Jordan's Furniture, closed due to the new coronavirus outbreak.

At the rest stop off the Mass Pike in Framingham, gas pumps sat empty on Wednesday afternoon. Inside, the dining area of the McDonald's was cordoned off with "caution" tape. The line to get food had strict social-distancing markers.

Off Campus

Worcester Polytechnic Institute resumed classes on Wednesday, but they are now all online. The campus was empty except for a few construction workers and groundskeepers. Somebody had placed an N95 mask on a bronze statue of campus mascot Gompei the Goat.

At The Park

A few people ventured into the chilly, drizzly afternoon to visit Worcester's enormous Green Hill Park. A father flew a kite with his kids, and a couple paid their respects at the Massachusetts Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Like all other park facilities in Worcester, the Barnyard Zoo was closed and there were no animals in sight.

Empty Milford

One business still booming in Milford was the Amazon warehouse off of Beaver Street. A stream of delivery vans went in and out of the facility — as many as a dozen within just a few minutes.

But downtown Milford was a different story. There are plenty of salons and barber shops downtown, and all were closed on Wednesday, along with stores like the high-touch instrument store Music & Arts and some restaurants.

In nearby Millis, the recreational cannabis store Commcan was open — but only serving medical marijuana patients. Baker's order deemed all other cannabis businesses nonessential. The parking lots, which usually requires a police officer for traffic control, was mostly empty.

Empty Offices

Near 5 p.m. on Wednesday, the parking lot at the Bose headquarters in Framingham was empty, as were the lots at nearby corporate giants Staples and TJX Companies. Many corporations have allowed employees to work at home during the COVID-19 outbreak. In turn, nearby Route 9 and the Mass Pike were both clear at rush hour.