A year of the pandemic, in 26 photos Susie Neilson A man looks out of the window of his home during the coronavirus pandemic. It's been almost a year since the Chinese government first notified the World Health Organisation about the novel coronavirus. Since then, more than 78 million people have contracted COVID-19, and more than 1.7 million have died. Here are some of the most striking photos of the pandemic's impact so far. Almost a year ago, on December 31, 2019, the Chinese government notified the World Health Organisation about a cluster of 41 patients with a mysterious pneumonia in Wuhan. Now, over 78 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 1.7 million have died.