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New Year’s Eve celebrations were muted by coronavirus restrictions in London and New York, while countries like Australia and New Zealand welcomed 2021 with impressive fireworks displays.
Big Ben ushered in 2021 with its chimes in an eerily muted London, which would normally be filled with swaths of people waiting to see a dazzling display of fireworks.
Bars and pubs that in years gone by would be filled with people singing Auld Lang Syne were empty and silent all over the country.
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UK welcomes the New Year
In Edinburgh, where Hogmanay is one of the most anticipated festivals of the year, only small groups of people were seen in the typically crowded streets of revelers.
An empty Princes Street in Edinburgh
There was also a crackdown on mass rallies in New York, USA, with police officers deployed to Times Square to turn off partygoers over concerns of the spread of COVID-19.
The ball fell as usual in Times Square, but police closed the place, synonymous with New Years Eve, to prevent crowds of any size from gathering.
Revelers sit on their pods in Times Square on New Years Eve
Times Square is empty ahead of the 2021 New Years Eve celebration
Meanwhile, other parts of the world celebrated in their almost usual style.
Australia was one of the first nations to ring in 2021 with a fireworks display made for television that did not disappoint compared to previous years.
Reduced to seven minutes, the exhibition was held over Harbor Bridge, which was only seen live by those who live in the area and their guests.
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge
The celebrated annual event normally draws a million people, but this year Australian officials prohibited people from gathering near the bridge to watch due to coronavirus restrictions.
In Auckland, New Zealand, residents enjoyed a five-minute fireworks and light show as the clock struck midnight.
Crowds were allowed to gather in the city to mark the occasion due to the low number of new coronavirus cases in the nation.
Auckland, New Zealand, also held a fireworks display
North Korea kicked off 2021 with crowds in the main square of the capital Pyongyang with a concert and fireworks show amid COVID-19 restrictions.
State television showed attendees wearing face masks but standing together, waving bright lights and balloons.
North Korea impressed with a fireworks display
Taiwan, which has been a pandemic success story, hosted its usual fireworks display in the iconic tower of its capital, Taipei 101.
For its annual flag-raising ceremony in front of the presidential office building on New Year’s morning, attendance was limited to government officials and guests.
Fireworks were launched from the Taipei 101 building during the New Year celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan.
Thailand ushered in the New Year with a fireworks display at the Iconsiam Mall in Bangkok.
The country imposed a ban on large gatherings and events across the country on Wednesday in an effort to contain its worst coronavirus epidemic yet.
New Years Eve celebrations in Bangkok, Thailand
Hong Kong officials canceled the fireworks over Victoria Harbor, as well as the iconic annual Lunar New Year parade in February.
Beijing held a countdown ceremony with just a few guests, while other planned events were canceled.
In Wuhan, where the pandemic is believed to have originated, thousands of people gathered at various popular landmarks across the city center for the countdown to 2021.
Some said they were being cautious, but weren’t particularly concerned.
Japan celebrated the New Year without its annual event in which Emperor Naruhito and other members of the imperial family greet the public.
In Tokyo, not only were night trains canceled on New Year’s Eve, but several of the city’s big countdown parties, concerts, and other seasonal gatherings were also canceled, including the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing party.
People pray for the New Year at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan
In Ireland, the bells of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin did not ring on the New Year for the first time in living memory and possibly in centuries.
With the entire country under the strictest COVID-19 restrictions, all New Year’s Eve events moved to the internet.
South African citizens were also urged to cancel the holidays, with many instead lighting candles as a way to honor healthcare workers and people who died in the COVID-19 pandemic.
In many European countries, authorities warned they were preparing to clamp down on revelers who violate coronavirus measures, including nightly curfews in France, Italy, Turkey, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Greece.
Police officers patrol in the central square of Athens, Greece, during the curfew imposed after 10 pm
“No one will be on the streets after 10pm (Athens) will be a dead city to make sure no more restrictions are imposed,” said Greece’s public order minister Michalis Chrisohoidis.
France mobilized 100,000 policemen and gendarmes to break up the New Year’s Eve parties and enforce the curfew from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Police officers patrol the streets of Paris, France, to stop the spread of COVID-19
Half of the Paris metro lines were also closed at night to discourage gatherings.
