At Mr. Arafat's compound, most buildings stood empty; workers had fled.
Once the account is empty, workers are responsible for paying for their health care until their deductible is reached.
It was a hot, windy day, and sand in the air kept most people away from Water World, which has been built next to some half-empty worker dorms.
"I always visited after working hours, so the site was empty of workers and quite tranquil," Mr. Staller said.
Laced with booby-traps and hidden bombs, the wheat and corn fields nearby were empty of workers.
On sunny days, the nearby office buildings empty and workers from all rungs of the ladder stretch out on the nicely clipped lawn and plentiful benches.
In Motril, a town in Spain's agricultural heartland, greenhouses were empty of workers as demand for vegetables collapsed after the German authorities initially — and most likely mistakenly — pointed to Spain as a source of the outbreak.
Jeb Bush, for his part, in his re-inaugural address last year, stood on the steps of the old state capitol in Tallahassee and said, "There would be no greater tribute to our maturity as a society than if we can make these buildings around us empty of workers — silent monuments to the time when government played a larger role than it deserved or could adequately fill".
Main roads leading to Manama were blocked and traffic was also redirected, while main roads of the capital were almost empty, as workers stayed home, leaving banks and "other key institutions" closed.
Sure, the bleachers along the sides of the park that normally hold people cheering the racers on were empty, and workers were dismantling the lines of signposts where advertisements usually hang.
By Thursday, with the White House rapidly emptying, maintenance workers moved in for last-minute hurricane preparations.
