It has been five years since covid-19 emerged, triggering a global pandemic that has had lasting consequences on societies, economies and people’s health.

Soon after the virus was identified, many countries started making plans for treating an influx of people severely ill with covid-19. The above image shows excavators at the construction site of Huoshenshan Hospital, built for this purpose, on 24 January 2020 in Wuhan, China – the initial epicentre of the outbreak.

Huoshenshan wasn’t the only hospital built in Wuhan as officials prepared for the worst. In March 2020, people infected with covid-19 were photographed as they waited to be transferred from a regular hospital in Wuhan to Leishenshan Hospital, also newly constructed for the pandemic.

Like many parts of the world, New York City started to introduce restrictions around mid-March 2020. The empty streets meant ballet dancer Ashlee Montague could perform in Times Square, while wearing a gas mask.

Face shields were initially suggested as alternatives to masks to protect people from infection, but as we learned more about the virus, they increasingly stopped being recommended. Nevertheless, the above photo of a newborn at a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, caught the internet’s attention in early April 2020.

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

Many care homes were badly affected by covid-19, as older people are particularly vulnerable to a severe infection. Restrictions meant that some visitors were offered the chance to hug their loved ones through a plastic sheet. The above photo was taken at a care home in Castelfranco Veneto, Italy, in November 2020.

The pandemic inspired colourful and creative murals around the world. The above photo shows a boy being swabbed for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in front of a covid-19-related artwork in Shah Alam, Malaysia, in December 2020.

Hopes were raised when the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved in the UK on 2 December 2020, after demonstrating 95 per cent efficacy in a late-stage trial. Six days later, Margaret Keenan, who lived in Coventry, became the first person to receive the vaccine outside of a trial, aged 90 years old.

Like many others, the late Queen Elizabeth II had to adhere to social distancing rules at the funeral of her husband Prince Philip at Windsor Castle, UK, on 17 April 2021. Pandemic restrictions also meant only 30 people could attend.

The UK’s National Covid Memorial Wall in London was created in March 2021 to honour those who died from the infection. The above photo shows a woman leaving a message on the wall one year after it was created. Bereaved family members and volunteers have painted more than 240,000 hearts on the 500-metre-long wall, which runs alongside the river Thames.

Much of the world had opened up again by early 2022, but diners in Tokyo, Japan, still tried to protect themselves from covid-19 by eating within transparent lanterns.

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

Topics: