The most iconic images taken during the covid-19 pandemic

Five years have passed since the emergence of covid-19, a global pandemic that has had lasting effects on societies, economies and people. the health.

Soon after the virus was identified, many countries began making plans to treat the large number of seriously ill people COVID-19. Excavators are pictured above at the construction site of Huoshenshan Hospital, the initial epicenter of the outbreak, on January 24, 2020 in Wuhan, China.

Huoshenshan was not the only hospital built in Wuhan, while officials prepared for the worst. In March 2020, people infected with covid-19 were photographed waiting to be transferred from the regular hospital in Wuhan to Leishenshan Hospital, also newly built for the pandemic.

Like many parts of the world, New York City began implementing restrictions in mid-March 2020. The empty streets could have seen ballet dancer Ashlee Montague perform in Times Square, wearing a gas mask.

Face shields were initially suggested as an alternative to masks to protect people from infection, but as we learned more about the virus, they became less and less recommended. However, the above photo of a newborn in a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand captured the attention of the Internet in early April 2020.

Along with other public spaces, churches and other places of worship are closed in many parts of the world. A priest in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan creatively conducted an Easter service in April 2020 while practicing social distancing by using a water gun to dispense holy water.

Many nursing homes were hit hard by covid-19, as the elderly are particularly vulnerable to a serious infection. The restrictions allowed some visitors to hug their loved ones through a plastic sheet. The photo above was taken at a care home in Castelfranco Veneto, Italy in November 2020.

The pandemic inspired colorful and creative wallpapers around the world. The photo above shows a boy in front of an artwork related to covid-19 due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Shah Alam, Malaysia in December 2020.

Hope was sparked when the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved in the UK on December 2, 2020, after proving 95 percent effective in a late-stage trial. Six days later, Margaret Keenan, who lived in Coventry, became the first person to receive the vaccine outside the trial, aged 90.

Like many others, the late Queen Elizabeth II had to maintain social distance from Prince Philip during her husband Prince Philip’s funeral on April 17, 2021.

The UK’s National Covid Memorial Wall in London was created in March 2021 to honor those who died from the infection. The photo above shows a woman leaving a message on the wall, one year after it was created. More than 240,000 hearts have been painted by family members and volunteers on the 500m wall which runs alongside the River Thames.

Much of the world reopened in early 2022, but diners in Tokyo, Japan still tried to protect themselves from covid-19 by eating under transparent lanterns.

Read more in our special report on five years since covid-19