The Bay Area shelter-in-place order went into effect ten days ago, on March 17.  The tough, but necessary mandate has transformed a once bustling city into one in lockdown mode. Lone joggers make their way down deserted thoroughfares, signs in the windows of small businesses warn of overcrowding and whole areas are cordoned off from the public, including playgrounds. People who venture out for much-needed walks wear protective masks and are cautious about getting too close to fellow cabin-fever sufferers; others stand in line to buy groceries, adhering to makeshift social distancing markers. It’s a new reality, one we are going to need to get used to.

Someone marked the sidewalk outside Berkeley Bowl East with dots and hearts to show the distance needed for social distancing. Photo, taken on March 25: Pete Rosos
A Safeway pharmacist wears a respirator while at work on March 25. Photo: Pete Rosos
At Magnani’s in North Berkeley, there is a five-person limit in the store. Photo, taken on March 25: Pete Rosos
At Magnani’s in North Berkeley, there is a five-person limit in the store. Photo, taken on March 25: Pete Rosos
Caution tape around the play structures at Berkeley’s Grove Park on March 25. Photo: Pete Rosos
Caution tape around the play structures at Berkeley’s Grove Park on March 25. Photo: Pete Rosos
A Whole Foods employee hands over a disinfected basket to a shopper entering the Telegraph Avenue store on March 25. Photo: Pete Rosos
Grove Park: empty tennis courts in the foreground and empty basketball courts in the background. Photo, taken on March 25: Pete Rosos
Tilden Little Farm during shelter-in-place order, on March 23. Photo: Nancy Rubin
A water fountain at Tilden Little Farm during shelter-in-place order, on March 23. Photo: Nancy Rubin
An empty AC Transit bus at a Bancroft Way stop near UC Berkeley on March 20. Photo: Pete Rosos
The shelves where paper towels should be at Safeway on Shattuck Avenue, March 25. Photo: Pete Rosos
A lone jogger heads up Bancroft Way towards UC Berkeley on March 20. Photo: Pete Rosos
The bulk foods section at the Shattuck Avenue Safeway is out of service. Photo, taken on March 25: Pete Rosos
A homeless person parks their shopping cart over a steam vent by the Cal campus on March 22. Photo: Pete Rosos
The empty schoolyard at Sylvia Mendez Elementary School during the shelter-in-place order. Photo: Pete Rosos
A lone figure in a hazmat suit crosses University Avenue (at Shattuck Avenue) on March 22. Photo: Pete Rosos
Seabreeze on the Berkeley Marina is closed and boarded up. Photo, taken on March 18: Pete Rosos
Afternoon commute in downtown Berkeley on March 20. Photo: Pete Rosos
Watching seagulls at Civic Center Park in downtown Berkeley on March 20. Photo: Pete Rosos
Pete Rosos

Pete Rosos has been a regular contributor to Berkeleyside since 2012 and has worked as a freelance photographer for well over a decade. He shoots mainly...