New coronavirus response hospital under construction in Wuhan, China
STR/AFP (via Getty Images)
It has been five years since the novel coronavirus disease emerged, causing a global pandemic with lasting impacts on societies, economies, and people's health.
Immediately after the virus was identified, many countries began making plans to treat the influx of severely ill people infected with COVID-19. The image above shows an excavator at the construction site of the purpose-built Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, China, which became the initial epicenter of the outbreak on January 24, 2020.
![People infected with the new coronavirus wait to be transported from Wuhan No. 5 Hospital to Lei Shenshan Hospital, a newly established hospital for the pandemic in Wuhan, China, on March 3, 2020. (March 3, 2020)](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/19143124/SEI_2336584842.jpg?resize=749%2C499&ssl=1)
People infected with covid-19 waiting for transit
STR/AFP (via Getty Images)
Huoshenshan was not the only hospital built in Wuhan as authorities prepared for the worst. In March 2020, people infected with the new coronavirus were photographed waiting to be transported from a general hospital in Wuhan to Leishenshan Hospital, which was also newly opened due to the pandemic.
![Ballerina Ashley Montague wears a gas mask while dancing in New York City's Times Square amid coronavirus restrictions on March 18, 2020.](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/19143339/SEI_2337411731.jpg?resize=749%2C499&ssl=1)
Traffic decreases in New York City
Reuters/Andrew Kelly
Like many parts of the world, New York City began implementing restrictions around mid-March 2020. With the streets empty, ballet dancer Ashley Montague was able to perform in Times Square while wearing a gas mask.
![A newborn baby wearing a face shield at Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 9, 2020.](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/19121338/SEI_233741232.jpg?resize=749%2C499&ssl=1)
COVID-19 wasn't the only thing going viral when this adorable baby started appearing on social media
Lillian Swanrunfa/AFP via Getty Images
Face shields were initially proposed as an alternative to masks to protect people from infection, but are increasingly discouraged as we learn more about the virus. Nevertheless, the above newborn photo taken at a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, caught the internet's attention in early April 2020.
![A priest uses a water gun to bless Easter baskets to distribute holy water in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, April 11, 2020.](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/19144918/SEI_233658442.jpg?resize=749%2C499&ssl=1)
Social restrictions have forced some people to get creative.
Jim West/ZUMA Wire/Shutterstock
Like other public spaces, churches and other places of worship are closed in many parts of the world. A priest in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan held a creative Easter service in April 2020, using water guns to hand out holy water while practicing social distancing.
![A care home resident kisses a relative through a plastic sheet at a care home in Castelfranco Veneto, Italy, in November 2020.](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/19155701/SEI_2337421341.jpg?resize=749%2C500&ssl=1)
Some people hugged through plastic due to concerns about infection.
Handout via Domenico Sartor/Reuters
Many nursing homes have been severely affected by the coronavirus, as the elderly are particularly susceptible to serious infections. The restrictions gave some visitors the chance to hug their loved ones through plastic sheets. The photo above was taken in November 2020 at a care home in Castelfranco Veneto, Italy.
![A man undergoes a sample test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Shah Alam, Malaysia, December 2020.](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/19155927/SEI_233658331.jpg?resize=749%2C499&ssl=1)
Some people have turned their experiences living under the pandemic into works of art.
Reuters/Lim Huey Teng
The pandemic has inspired colorful and creative murals around the world. The photo above shows a young boy being swabbed for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in front of a COVID-19 artwork in Shah Alam, Malaysia, in December 2020.
![Margaret Keenan receives the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in Coventry, UK in December 2020 - the first person to be vaccinated against an infectious disease outside of a clinical trial](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/19160223/SEI_233655422.jpg?resize=749%2C499&ssl=1)
Margaret Keenan from Coventry, UK, receives COVID-19 vaccination
Jacob King/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Expectations were high when the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved in the UK on December 2, 2020, after showing 95 per cent efficacy in late-stage trials. Six days later, 90-year-old Coventry resident Margaret Keenan became the first person to receive the vaccine outside of the trial.
![Queen Elizabeth sits alone at her husband Prince Philip's funeral at Windsor Castle, England, on April 17, 2021.](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/19160232/SEI_233658408.jpg?resize=749%2C499&ssl=1)
Late Queen Elizabeth maintains social distancing at husband's funeral
Jonathan Brady – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Like many other queens, the late Queen Elizabeth II had to adhere to social distancing rules at her husband Prince Philip's funeral on April 17, 2021 at Windsor Castle, England. Due to pandemic restrictions, only 30 people were allowed to attend.
![UK National Corona Memorial Wall in London](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/19160220/SEI_233658589.jpg?resize=749%2C499&ssl=1)
Monuments are being erected around the world to commemorate those who lost their lives to the new coronavirus infection.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Britain's National Covid-19 Memorial Wall in London was built in March 2021 to commemorate those who have died from the disease. The photo above shows a woman leaving a message on the wall a year after it was created. Family members and volunteers painted more than 240,000 hearts on a 500-meter-long wall along the River Thames.
![Hotel staff demonstrate how to eat inside a lantern to prevent coronavirus infection in February 2022 in Tokyo, Japan](https://i0.wp.com/images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/19160238/SEI_233741188.jpg?resize=749%2C499&ssl=1)
Public spaces were eventually opened up, but some things changed
Reuters/Kim Kyung-hoon
Although much of
Source: www.newscientist.com