From Sydney to Rome, fireworks shows, pyre burning, and live performances will be seen online or on television, if they have not been canceled entirely.
The world began ushering in the New Year on Thursday, with pandemic controls silencing the celebrations for billions of people eager to bid farewell to a virus-ridden 2020.
After a grueling year in which at least 1.7 million people died from Covid-19, new waves of infection have prompted new closures and forced would-be revelers to extend their 2020 tradition of watching events from the couch.
From Sydney to Rome, fireworks shows, pyre burning, and live performances will be seen online or on television, if they have not been canceled entirely.
The long-awaited first lights of 2021 fell on the Pacific nations of Kiribati and Samoa beginning at 10 a.m. GMT (3.30 p.m. IST), with the uninhabited Howland and Baker Islands the last to turn over towards the New Year, 26 hours later.
New Zealand, which has earned praise for its handling of the coronavirus, followed an hour later with large crowds gathering in Auckland to watch a fireworks display.
Although still isolated by international border closures, months of zero reported cases in the community have allowed life in New Zealand to return to relative normalcy.
In Sydney, Australia’s largest city, pyrotechnics will continue to illuminate the glittering harbor with a dazzling display at 1300 GMT, but few spectators will be there to see it in person.
Plans to allow crowds were scrapped amid a pool of around 150 new infections that have seen travel to and from Sydney severely restricted.
“I think everyone is looking to 2021 as a new beginning and a new beginning,” said Karen Roberts, one of the lucky few who were allowed to pass the checkpoints in the area. AFP in a bar located below the Sydney Opera House.
Similarly, Romans will broadcast live the burning of a huge pyre at the Circus Maximus, the ancient city stadium, along with a two-hour event featuring performances by artists and illuminated views of iconic sites.
Italy, where shocking images of makeshift morgues and exhausted doctors awakened the world to the severity of the crisis, is on a national lockdown until January 7 and there is a 10 p.m. curfew.
From France to Latvia to Brazil, police and in some cases military personnel are being deployed to ensure that night curfews or bans on large gatherings are enforced.
In London, 74-year-old American singer-songwriter Patti Smith will ring in the New Year with a tribute to the National Health Service workers who died from Covid-19, screened on the Piccadilly Circus screen and broadcast on Youtube. .
Social gathering
Thousands are expected to attend a Dubai fireworks and laser show at Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, despite a large number of new cases.
All event attendees, whether in a public place, hotel or restaurant, must wear masks and register with QR codes.
In Beirut, a city still reeling from the port explosion on August 4, authorities are also taking action.
The nightly curfew has been postponed to 3 am. Bars, restaurants and nightclubs have reopened and are announcing big parties to mark the turn of the year.
Social media is already inundated with images and videos of crowded clubs and restaurants, prompting authorities to warn that a new lockdown could take effect after the holidays.
Fears of such a New Year’s hangover are widespread and there are signs that new strains of the virus may make the next few months even more difficult.
Chancellor Angela Merkel used her New Year’s greeting on Thursday to warn Germans that the “historic” coronavirus crisis will extend into 2021, even if vaccines provide some hope.
In Brazil, which has already recorded more than 1.93,000 deaths from Covid-19, the second-largest number in the world, fearful doctors await a new wave.
In recent days, social media has been filled with videos showing unmasked revelers enjoying a night out, and TV channels have even shown live footage of police closing down bars full of customers.
“The peak of the pandemic was between May and July, which was when there was not much movement and we take care of ourselves more. Now there are many cases and people are acting as if there was no pandemic,” said Luiz Gustavo. de Almeida, a microbiologist at the University of Sao Paulo.
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