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The world began to enter this Friday in 2021, under the influence of the coronavirus pandemic that has forced millions of people to celebrate New Year’s Eve in the privacy of their homes.
After months of restrictions due to covid-19, which has caused about 1.8 million deaths worldwide, The new waves of the pandemic forced most of the people to follow the festivities from the sofa.
The small archipelago of Kiribati and the Samoa islands in the Pacific have been, at 10:00 GMT, the first to arrive in 2021.
New Zealand, applauded for its handling of the pandemic, welcomed the new year an hour later, with huge crowds gathering in Auckland for a fireworks display.
In Sydney, Australia’s largest city, the famous New Year’s Eve fireworks lit the harbor with a dazzling display, but few spectators.
“I think everyone is looking at 2021 as a new beginning,” said Karen Roberts, one of the lucky few who was able to attend the fires near the famous Sydney Opera House.
“I will Survive”
In New York, Times Square, which is usually packed with euphoric people in a shower of confetti, was cordoned off and empty. From the television, the American singer Gloria Gaynor was going to interpret her famous song “I will survive” at the age of 77.
After losing her job, 25-year-old New Yorker Annika Downs told Agence France-Presse that 2020 had been the year for her “you lose all references.”
The United States is the country in the world most mourned by the pandemic and in his New Year’s message Mayor Bill de Blasio referred to 2020 as “without a doubt the hardest year in the history of New York.” “In January we are going to vaccinate a million New Yorkers,” he promised.
“One more year”
In Madrid, the Spanish ate the twelve grapes with the chimes of the famous Puerta del Sol clock from the sofas of their houses, since the famous square of the Spanish capital was completely empty this New Year’s Eve.
In a very unusual presentation, the former member of Mecano Nacho Cano performed on the piano “One more year”, a song by the dissolved Spanish band to say goodbye to 2020 and remember those who died from covid-19.
“Pretend you have it”
In battered London, there have been no celebrations as recommended by the government that asked people to stay home to avoid spreading the virus with the slogan “Pretend you have it.”
The American singer Patti Smith, 74, gave a concert on YouTube in tribute to the United Kingdom health personnel who died of covid-19. But the live broadcast on a big screen in Piccadilly Circus was canceled at the last minute due to the pandemic.
There were also no celebrations for the final exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union that materialized at 23:00 GMT (00:00 Brussels time). A few dozen people showed up to Parliament Square in London to hear Big Ben.
Deserted Champs Elysees
In Paris, the Champs Elysees were empty. Under the trees adorned with red lights, a score of policemen stopped the few vehicles that circulated on this famous street to verify the certificates of travel and fine the offenders.
France is experiencing New Year’s Eve on the 31st under a curfew, exceptionally guarded by 100,000 policemen and gendarmes: any movement between 8:00 pm and 6:00 am – except for professional reasons, was prohibited. And any violation of it is subject to heavy fines.
Thousands of people in Wuhan
In Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus was first detected in late 2019, thousands of people celebrated the arrival of 2021.
In Hong Kong, despite restrictions, some people ventured to Victoria Harbor to drink selfies.
In Tokyo, residents face the prospect of a state of emergency being imposed, after a daily record of 1,300 new coronavirus infections were recorded.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged in his New Year’s speech that a second wave of the coronavirus hits the country. “Unfortunately, the epidemic has not been completely stopped. The fight against the epidemic does not stop for a minute ”, he declared.
Shortly before, as every year, a dozen people dived into the icy waters of Lake Baikal in Siberia, with temperatures as low as -35º C.
Rome without fireworks
The Romans also attended from the sofa in their homes to the parties organized in Circus Maximus, the oldest stadium in the city.
Although the mayor’s office banned the fireworks and firecrackers that usually resonate in the Eternal City.
In Dubai, thousands of people attended a fireworks and laser lighting show at Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, despite a large number of new cases. Attendees had to wear a mask and register with a QR code.
In Brazil, the second most affected country in the world, which has registered more than 193,000 deaths from covid-19, doctors fear a new wave.
In recent days, videos of people without masks have circulated on social networks and television has broadcast images of police officers closing bars full of customers.
“The peak of the pandemic was between May and July, which was when there was not much movement and we took better care of ourselves. Now there are many cases and people are acting as if there is no pandemic, ”said Luiz Gustavo de Almeida, a microbiologist at the University of Sao Paulo.
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