Photo essay: A year in California living with coronavirus

It's been a long and tragic year as the global pandemic wreaked havoc and stole lives and jobs around the globe.

In California, nearly 56,000 people have died of the virus and there have been more than 3.6 million positive cases. 

A year later, marked on Wednesday, there are some glimmers of hope.

More than 90% of the state has been able to reopen in some fashion, children are beginning to head back to school and cities are reporting unexpected budget windfalls.

Here is a look at the past year in photos: 

People are seen gathering on the beach north of Newport Beach Pier on April 25, 2020. Southern California is expecting summer-like weather this weekend as social distancing and beach closures in neighboring counties continue due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

(Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images)

A baby is born during coronavirus and she has to wear a face mask in the hospital. 

Coronavirus and babies

(Photo by LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images)

A message is posted reading 'Stay Home' in Imperial County which has been hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic on July 23, 2020 in El Centro, California. Imperial County currently suffers from the highest death rate and near-highest infection rate from COVID-19 in California. The rural county, which is 85 percent Latino, borders Mexico and Arizona and endures high poverty rates and air pollution while also being medically underserved. In California, Latinos make up about 39 percent of the population but account for 55 percent of confirmed coronavirus cases.

 (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Palm trees stand behind a street art piece by artist Pony Wave depicting two people kissing while wearing face masks on Venice Beach on March 21, 2020 in Venice, California. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a ‘stay at home’ order for California’s 40 million residents in order to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Californians may still go to the beach without violating Newsom’s order as long as they maintain social distancing and adhere to other public health measures related to the coronavirus.

 (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Clinicians re-position a COVID-19 patient into the supine position at Providence St. Mary Medical Center amid a surge in COVID-19 patients at the hospital and across Southern California on January 6, 2021 in Apple Valley, California. The hospital is operating at over 200 percent of its normal ICU (Intensive Care Unit) capacity and is currently converting some patient rooms into ICU rooms to treat the increase in COVID-19 patients requiring ICU-level care. California has issued a new directive ordering hospitals with space to accept patients from other hospitals which have run out of ICU beds due to the coronavirus pandemic.

 (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Gov. Gavin Newsom watches as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is prepared by Director of Inpatient Pharmacy David Cheng at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center on December 14, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The first doses of the vaccine are being administered to frontline workers in hospitals across the country today.

 (Photo by Jae C. Hong-Pool/Getty Images)

The Latinx community in Oakland's Fruitvale district have been disproportionately affected by coronavirus. People line up for COVID testing in 2020. 

A third-grade student sits during his online class from his social distanced desk on Sept. 3, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.

FILE - A third grade student sits during his online class from his social distanced desk on Sept. 3, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

 (Photo: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

People line up for their turn at receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at Kedren Health on Feb. 11, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.

FILE - People line up for their turn at receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at Kedren Health on Feb. 11, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

 (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Members of the National Guard and officers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are on-site on the opening day of a new mass Covid-19 vaccination site established between the federal government and the state on February 16, 2021 on the campus at California State University of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California.

 (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Lori Joaquin holds her 2-year-old son Zac Joaquin with her sister Robyn Vasquez grab their lunch tray to eat indoor lunch at Philippe The Original near downtown Los Angeles on March 15, 2021. 

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images).

Moviegoers sit, waiting for their movie to start at the AMC Burbank theatre on reopening day. Slammed by a brutal Covid-19 pandemic winter spike, California has seen a rapid decline in infection rates in recent weeks as a vaccination rollout has delivered at least one dose to nearly a fifth of residents. 

 (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)

Moorea Rocco,7, Sadie Mizrahi,7, Harlow Rocco, 5 and Oliver Mizrahi, 5, from left, are ready to watch, Tom and Jerry at the Cinemark Playa Vista and XD movie theater in the Playa Vista neighborhood, of Los Angeles on March 16, 2021. The county moved into California's second-most restrictive tier of reopening, the red tier, indoor auditoriums can have 25% capacity with reserved seating and at least six feet of distance in all directions between any groups.

 (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Guests view the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit during a media preview at SVN West in San Francisco, California in March 2021. "Immersive van Gogh," is a digitally projected show that animates paintings by artist Vincent Van Gogh in a surroundscape experience. The show runs from March 18th through September 6th and will be one of the first in-person art experiences in San Francisco since the city went on lockdown one year ago due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

 (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A customer wears a face mask as they lift weights while working out inside a Planet Fitness Inc. gym as the location reopens after being closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Inglewood, California in March 2021.  Los Angeles County is allowing fitness centers and gyms to reopen for indoor workouts at ten percent capacity with customers wearing face masks under Covid-19 public health guidelines.

 (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)