The Week in Pictures: Capitol rampage and hospitals on the brink

Jaclyn Bernstein of New York stands in confetti after the Times Square New Year's Eve ball dropped on Jan. 1, 2021.

The ball drop, held in honor of health care workers, first responders, and essential workers, was livestreamed and broadcast, but the large crowds were absent as authorities tried to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

A man swims in a channel cut in a frozen lake in Shenyang, in China's northeastern Liaoning province, on Jan. 7.

Registered nurse Yeni Sandoval wears personal protective equipment while she cares for a Covid-19 patient in the Intensive Care Unit at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, Calif., on Jan. 3.

Voters mark their ballots at the Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church in Tucker, Ga., during the Senate runoff election on Jan. 5.

President-elect Joe Biden points to Democratic Senate candidates from Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock as he campaigns on their behalf in Atlanta on Jan. 4.

Warnoff and Ossoff both won their races, allowing Democrats to take control of the U.S. Senate.

Supporters of President Donald Trump attempt to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

As Congress was set to confirm the Electoral College results and Joe Biden’s victory, Trump addressed his supporters who had gathered in Washington. Many of those supporters stormed the Capitol to interrupt the proceedings. 

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Co., comforts Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., while taking cover as rioters disrupt the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6.

A rioter hangs from the balcony in the Senate Chamber on Jan. 6.

A patient is carried on a stretcher outside Santa Maria hospital in Lisbon, Portugal, on Jan. 7.

Visitors admire ice sculptures at the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin,  northeastern China, on Jan. 4.

Patients wait outside the emergency room at the LAC + USC Medical Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 5, 2021.

California avoided surging cases for months, but now the virus is raging out of control there, as it has done in many other states. Only Arizona tops California in cases per resident and, with 40 million residents, the huge state is seeing staggering caseloads: more than 2.5 million confirmed infections.

Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. 

Congressional staffers hold up their hands as Capitol Police SWAT teams secure the floor on Jan. 6.

Questions still linger as to why authorities weren’t better prepared to seal off the Capitol – and why more wasn’t done to arrest members of the pro-Trump mob as they left the building.

Richard Barnett sits inside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Jan. 6.

Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Ark., was taken into custody on Jan 8 in his home state on charges of entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry and theft of public property. 

Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi preside over a Joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results on Jan. 6.

Hours after thousands of people stormed the building, Congress returned and worked into the early morning hours, counting electoral votes and certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

A member of the medical staff at the Croix Rousse Hospital receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Jan. 6.

The slow vaccine rollout in France is being blamed on mismanagement and staffing shortages during end-of-year vacations – as well as a complex consent policy designed to accommodate broad vaccine skepticism among the French public.

A couple embrace during New Year's celebrations in Kyiv, Ukraine. 

Skater Suzie Murray skates on a Queens Park pond in Glasgow, Scotland on Jan. 5. 

Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the walls at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Members of Congress run for cover as rioters try to enter the House Chamber on Jan. 6.

Capitol Police with guns drawn stand near a barricaded door as rioters try to break into the House Chamber on Jan. 6.

Photos: Chaos erupts as pro-Trump mob storms the Capitol

A bust of President Zachary Taylor is covered with plastic on Jan. 7 after blood was smeared on it when a pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol.

The events from less than 24 hours earlier weighed heavily on the complex Thursday morning as staff members worked to clean up the remnants of an ugly day in American history.

Healthcare workers wearing personal protective equipment to treat Covid-19 patients celebrate on New Year's Eve in Rome's San Filippo Neri Hospital. 

2020's Year in Pictures: Twelve months of pain, rage and resilience