Coronavirus and the return of plastic – in pictures
Until recently it was possible to imagine the end of plastic, but Covid-19 has changed the game. Since the pandemic started, there has been a significant increase in plastic waste, such as masks, gloves and gowns, and increased purchases of products including disposable wipes and liquid soap
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People exercise in workout pods in Redondo Beach, California
Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty
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A newborn baby at Praram 9 hospital in Bangkok, Thailand
Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty
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Bidders sit in separate perspex cubicles during a flower auction in Johannesburg, South Africa
Photograph: Phill Magakoe/AFP/Getty
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Employees in a cafeteria at the offices of Hyundai credit card company in Seoul, South Korea
Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty
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A man cycling in Wuhan, China
Photograph: Héctor Retamal/AFP/Getty
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A woman shopping in Granada. Spain
Photograph: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty
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A band do their sound check before live streaming a concert in Washington, US
Photograph: Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty
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Police are fitted with personal protective equipment in Amritsar, India
Photograph: Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty
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A couple have lunch at a restaurant in Paris, France
Photograph: Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty
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A woman visits her husband in a retirement home in Bourbourg, France
Photograph: Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty
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A dentist and clinical assistant prepare to perform surgery at a clinic in Camarma de Esteruelas, Spain
Photograph: Óscar del Pozo/AFP/Getty
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An umbrella and sunbeds on a beach in Santorini, Greece
Photograph: Dimitris Lambropoulos/AFP/Getty
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A hairdresser prepares to reopen in Virginia, US
Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty
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Relatives carry the coffin of a suspected Covid-19 victim at the Nueva Esperanza cemetery near Lima, Peru
Photograph: Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty
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A taxi driver in Hanoi, Vietnam
Photograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images
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Children in the library at Kinugawa elementary school in Nikko, Japan
Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty
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Pharmacists at work in Lviv, Ukraine
Photograph: Yuri Dyachyshyn/AFP/Getty
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A daughter hugs her mother at a senior nursing home in São Paulo, Brazil
Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty
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A woman carries her baby at a market in Bangkok, Thailand
Photograph: Vivek Prakash/AFP/Getty Images
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A discarded glove in Manchester, England
Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty
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