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A year marked by the corona pandemic is drawing to a close. 2020 is supposed to go down in history as one of the worst in human memory with societies in crisis, economic collapse and 1.7 million deaths in covid-19.
First, at 11 a.m. Swedish time, the clock strikes midnight in parts of Samoa and Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. Only 26 hours later, 2021 will make its entrance around the world, as the uninhabited coral islands Baker-Howland Islands enter the new year.
But this year’s New Year’s celebration will not be business as usual.
Corona infection remains rampant, in some places worse than ever, prompting cities around the world to adapt the holidays to prevailing circumstances and invest in the TV couch.
In Sweden, many of the municipalities With the public fireworks lit, Skansen holds its traditional celebration digitally where actress Sofia Helin reads the New Year’s poem. Restaurants cannot serve champagne after 8 p.m. and the Public Health Agency urges avoiding large crowds to counter the spread of the infection.
An hour after Sweden passes twelve, American singer Patti Smith kicks off the New Year in London in a ceremony that is shown on a big television screen in Piccadilly Circus and streamed on YouTube.
The UK has been hard hit by the pandemic and on Wednesday reported an additional 981 deaths from the new, more contagious covid variant. The government has further tightened restrictions to stop the infection and the country’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson urges people to save the holidays for next year and instead “celebrate the new year safely at home.” writes The Guardian.
The New Year at Skansen is broadcast digitally this year.
Photograph: Peter Wixtröm / Aftonbladet / TT
The French government has deployed around 100,000 policemen and gendarmes on New Year’s Eve to break up the festivities and check that no one violates the curfew that prevails after 8:00 p.m. during the chronone pandemic, the BBC writes. In Paris, even half of the metro lines will be closed at night.
Anyone who breaks the rules risks a fine. The government has also asked stores to restrict or stop the sale of fireworks. France is one of the most affected countries in the world, with 2.6 million infected and more than 64,000 deaths from covid-19.
Germany is also struggling with one increasing the spread of infection and has tightened restrictions in several places. Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement that 2020 was the worst and most difficult year in her fifteen years of leadership. At the same time, he highlighted hope for better times as covid-19 vaccination takes off.
When the clock strikes twelve in Sweden, Italians also celebrate the New Year. In Rome, a large bonfire is lit in the former Circus Maximus racecourse, which is broadcast live with a two-hour musical program, so that the New Year can be toasted with the family at home, according to AFP.
Sydney, Australia’s million dollar city, traditionally launches a stunning New Year’s fireworks display at Sydney Harbor Bridge, at 2pm Swedish time. However, large crowds are not expected: the city has introduced new restrictions after a corona eruption with around 150 new cases.
In contrast, all “Sydney residents” without a harbor-view balcony can sit in front of the television, but not in groups of more than five people.
Harbor Bridge in Sydney.
Photo: Lukas Coch
In New York, hundreds of thousands of people often gather to watch a giant ball drop from the One Times Square building at midnight on New Year’s Eve. This year, the square is not open to the public. Instead, the ceremony can be viewed digitally or on television.
In Dubai, the authorities have taken a less strict stance. Thousands of Emirates and tourists are expected to see a pyrotechnic and laser show at the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, at 9pm Swedish time.
Two hours later, at 11 pm Swedish time, the people of Beirut can touch their glasses, as the usual nightly curfew in honor of the day only occurs at three in the evening. Bars, restaurants and nightclubs are open and throw big parties to celebrate the New Year, and maybe even give a moment of oblivion after all the hardships in the wake of the big explosion in the port in August, which killed about 200 people. , injured thousands and equalized large parts. of the Lebanese capital with the land.
In China, as in many other Asian countries, several major cities have announced that they have stopped all public fireworks and urged people to stay home and watch the festivities from the TV couch.
However, one country is going against the current: New Zealand. The country has managed to eliminate the corona virus after a strict shutdown and the New Year holidays continue as usual there.
Read more:
Stockholm City New Year’s Eve celebrations canceled
New Year’s Eve 2020 in pictures
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