Coronavirus Hug Image Named World Press Photo of the Year

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - A photo of an 85-year-old Brazilian woman getting her first embrace in five months from a nurse through a transparent "hug curtain" was named the World Press Photo of the Year on Thursday.

It was the second time the Danish photographer who shot the image has won the prestigious award. That the winning photo would portray the global pandemic was almost inevitable for the contest, which covered a year in which news around the globe was dominated by the virus that has killed nearly 3 million people, including more than 360,000 in hard-hit Brazil. The image by Mads Nissen captured the moment Rosa Luzia Lunardi was hugged by nurse Adriana Silva da Costa Souza at the Viva Bem care home in Sao Paulo on Aug. 5.