Revelries muted by virus as curtain draws on 2020
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA — ThisNew Year’s Eve was celebrated like no other in most of theworld, with pandemic restrictions limiting crowds and many people bidding farewell to a year they’d prefer to forget.
NewYear’s experiences in Asia and the South Pacific varied greatly depending on country, just like the coronavirus itself. Some major cities canceled or scaledback their traditional celebrations, while a handful of places without active outbreaks carried on like any other year.
Australia was among the first nations to ring in 2021 because of its proximity to the international date line. In past years, 1 million people crowdedSydney’s harbor to watch fireworks. Instead, most watched on television as authorities urged residents to stay home Thursday and the country’s most populous states, NewSouth Wales and Victoria, battled new COVID-19 outbreaks.
Locations on the harbor werefencedoff,popularparks closedandfamousnightspots eerily deserted. A9p.m. fireworks displaywas scrapped, butthesevenminutesofpyrotechnics that lit up the SydneyHarborBridgeandits surroundingsstartingatmidnight brought momentary cheer.
Melbourne, Australia’s second-most populated city, called off its annual fireworks show.
In South Korea, Seoul’s city government canceled its annual New Year’s Eve bell-ringing ceremony in the Jongnoneighborhoodfor the first time since the eventwas firstheldin1953, monthsafter the end of the Korean War. Theceremonynormallydraws anestimated100,000people and is broadcast live.
Authorities incoastal areas of easternSouthKorea closed beaches and other spots where hundreds of thousands of people typically gather on New Year’s Day to watch the sunrise.
Cities and countries that have managed to control the coronavirus got to celebrate. New Zealand, which is two hours ahead of Sydney, and several of its South Pacific island neighbors that
also have no activeCOVID-19 cases held their usual New Year’s celebrations.
Taiwan hosted its usual New Year’s celebration, a fireworks display by its capital city’s iconic Taipei 101 tower. A flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Office Building on New Year’s morning was planned The island has registered only seven deaths and 700 confirmed cases.
In Chinese societies, the Lunar New Year, which in in 2021 will fall in February, generally takes precedence over the Jan. 1 solarNewYear.
The coronavirus ensured moremuted celebrations of theWestern holiday. Beijing scheduled a countdownceremony with just a fewinvited guests, while other planned events were canceled.
Much of Japanwelcomed 2021 quietly at home, alarmedafterTokyoreported a recorddailynumberof confirmed coronavirus cases. The capital reported about 1,300 Thursday, topping 1,000 for the first time.
Many people skipped what’s customarily a chance to return to ancestral homes for the holidays, hoping to lessen health risks for extended families. Train services that usually carry people on shrine visits overnight were canceled. Emperor Naruhitoisdelivering a video message for the new year, instead of waving to cheering crowds from a balcony outside the palace.
Millions of Indiansplanned to usher in thenewyear with subduedcelebrationsathome because of night curfews, a ban on beach parties and restrictions on movement inmajorcitiesandtownsafter the new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus reached the country.
In New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, hotels and bars were ordered to shut at 11 p.m. The three cities have been the worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Droneswere keeping watch on people’s movements in Mumbai, India’sfinancialand entertainment capital. Large gatheringswere banned, but there were no restrictions on visiting friends, relatives and public places in groups of not more than four people, police said.
Despite a surge in infections, the Gulf hub of Dubai pressed ahead with its mass NewYear’s Eve celebrations, includingtheannualfireworks show around the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower.
In many European countries, authoritieswarnedthey were ready to clamp down on revelerswho breach public health rules. In the Czech capital of Prague, a popular New Year’s destination for people from across the continent, police prepared to enforce a night-time curfew starting at 9 p.m.
Organizers of the annual NewYear’s Eve show at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate that regularly draws hundreds of thousands of spectators are this year putting on a virtual event for people to watch at home. Public gatherings and fireworks are banned in muchoftheGermanycapital.
Italy’s interiorministerhas ordered 70,000 lawenforcement officers to be on patrol for NewYear’s Eve and said this year’s celebrations will be “more sober” than usual. Fireworks will goonasscheduled at midnightover theColosseum in Rome, but viewing will be from balconies only due to a nationwide 10 p.m. curfew.