2020 Year in Photos: COVID-19 Global Response Slideshow

A volunteer from a local aid organization takes care of precious personal protective equipment at an MSF-supported COVID-19 treatment center for refugees and migrants in Brussels. Belgium 2020 © Kristof Vadino

A fireman disinfects a resident’s room at a care home for the elderly in El Royo, Spain. In April, MSF sounded the alarm about the impact of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities across Europe. “Too many people have been dying alone, frightened, and in a terrible state,” said MSF doctor Ximena di Lollo. Spain 2020 © Olmo Calvo/MSF

An MSF medic wears personal protective equipment to examine a young patient at the pediatric clinic outside Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. Greece 2020 © Anna Pantelia/MSF

Lebanon 2020 © Diego Ibarra Sánchez

A nurse on the MSF team talks with a boy at a mobile clinic in a camp for displaced people in northwestern Syria. The child has brought in a young family member for a medical consultation. Syria 2020 © Omar Haj Kadour/MSF

In northwestern Syria, a doctor checks the temperature of a patient at the entrance of a dedicated space to screen potential COVID-19 patients. People with symptoms are held for observation and sent to a nearby hospital supported by MSF. Syria 2020 © Omar Haj Kadour/MSF

An MSF team visits a camp for refugees and migrants in Matamoros, Mexico—just across the border from Brownsville, Texas—to talk to families about how to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Harsh migration policies have left many vulnerable people stranded and exposed during the pandemic. Mexico 2020 © MSF

A tailor in a sewing workshop makes cloth masks commissioned by MSF for COVID-19 prevention activities in Bamako. Mali 2020 © Lamine Keita/MSF

In June, MSF set up this 60-bed field hospital in Khayelitsha, South Africa, to treat patients with moderate to severe cases of COVID-19. This project helped support the Khayelitsha district hospital, which was struggling to cope with the pressures during a peak period of transmission in the Western Cape. South Africa 2020 © MSF/Rowan Pybus

MSF staff organize a COVID-19 health information session in Aydarken, Kyrgyzstan. Rural and remote regions here strive to put infection prevention measures in place and to guarantee essential medical services, especially for people with chronic ailments who require long-term care. Kyrgyzstan 2020 © MSF/Rowan Pybus

Ghanem Qaid Nasser, a 60-year-old resident of Ibb governorate, was admitted for severe COVID-19 symptoms at the MSF-supported Al-Sahul treatment center. "It started with a high fever, coughing, and dizziness. And I couldn't breathe. For eight days I was on the brink of death,” Ghanem said. After two weeks of treatment, his condition improved. The medical team gave him a warm farewell—which is the custom for all patients who get discharged from the center. Yemen 2020 © Majd Aljunaid/MSF

Mohammed Hashim was MSF's first patient at the new 32-bed COVID-19 treatment center in Herat, Afghanistan, when it opened in June. The center serves patients in need of oxygen therapy and was set up to relieve the pressure on other facilities in the area. Afghanistan 2020 © Laura McAndrew/MSF

A young man in the inpatient ward at the MSF-run COVID-19 facility in Mosul, Iraq, seems to be feeling better. Teams provide patients with treatment, health education, and mental health support. By July, the facility had received over 700 patients. Iraq 2020 © Manhal Alkallak/MSF

Nurse Mayra Leandro works with a health worker from the Special Indigenous Health District of Mato Grosso do Sul attending to patients in Lagoinha village in the Amazon region of Brazil. They test this woman’s blood sugar levels, as many indigenous people here are living with diabetes. Brazil 2020 © Diego Baravelli/MSF

MSF community health educator Ganpat reaches out to individuals living in the densely crowded M-East ward of Mumbai, India. He provides hygiene kits and information about how to prevent the spread of COVID-19. People living in this area are at high risk of infectious diseases due to cramped spaces and poor sanitation services. India 2020 © Abhinav Chatterjee/MSF

MSF psychologist Anderson Beltrame reconnects with Miraida Guevara in Boa Vista, Brazil, several months after their last counseling session. Miraida left her home and six children in Venezuela in search of steady work in Brazil. MSF provides mental health support to help migrants and refugees navigate an uncertain future ahead. Brazil 2020 © Diego Baravelli/MSF

A patient visits with her family from a safe distance at the MSF-run COVID-19 center in Matamoros, on the Mexico-US border. Amid a surge of cases in Mexico this summer, MSF ran COVID-19 treatment centers in Matamoros, Reynosa, and Tijuana—treating over 200 patients with severe symptoms. Mexico 2020 © Arlette Blanco /MSF