Revelers ring in new year with celebrations muted by virus

CANBERRA, Australia — This New Year’s Eve was celebrated like no other in most of the world, with pandemic restrictions limiting crowds and many people bidding farewell to a year they’d prefer to forget with made- for- TV fireworks displays or packing it in early since they could not toast the end of 2020 in the presence of friends or carousing strangers.

As the clock struck midnight across Asia and the South Pacific and the hour neared in Europe, Africa and the Americas, the New Year’s experience mirrored national responses to the virus itself. Some canceled or scaled back festivities, while others without active outbreaks carried on like any other year.

Australia was among the first to ring in 2021 because of its proximity to the international date line. In past years 1 million people crowded Sydney’s harbor to watch fireworks. This time, most watched on television as authorities urged residents to stay home to see the seven minutes of pyrotechnics that lighted up the Sydney Harbor Bridge and its surroundings.

Melbourne, Australia’s second- most populated city, called off its annual fireworks show to discourage crowds. Officials in London made the same decision months ago. And while the ball was set to drop in New York’s Times Square like always, police fenced off the site synonymous with New Year’s Eve.

In South Korea, Seoul’s city government canceled its annual New Year’s Eve bell- ringing ceremony in the Jongno neighborhood for the first time since the event was first held in 1953.

New Zealand and several of its South Pacific island neighbors that also have no active COVID- 19 cases held their usual New Year’s activities.

Taiwan also hosted its usual New Year’s celebration, a fireworks display by its capital city’s Taipei 101 tower. The island has registered only seven deaths and 799 confirmed cases.

North Korea marked the start of 2021 with a fireworks show over central Pyongyang. Crowds wearing masks solemnly listened to the national anthem as the North Korean f lag was raised at midnight.

In Chinese societies, the virus ensured more muted celebrations of the solar New Year, which is less widely observed than the Lunar New Year, which arrives in February. Initial reports about a mystery respiratory illness in Wuhan, China, emerged exactly a year ago.

Wendell Teodoro Getty I mages I N SYDNEY, pyrotechnics celebrating the new year light up the Opera House. Most Australians watched the event on TV as authorities urged people to stay home.

Louisa Gouliamaki AFP/ Getty I mages I N ATHENS, Greeks gather near illuminated displays welcoming 2021. Around the world, the New Year’s experience mirrored national responses to the COVID- 19 pandemic. Some countries canceled or scaled back festivities, while others carried on as in past years. In Mandalay, right, people cross the Irrawaddy River during the last sunset of the year in Myanmar.

Kena Betancur AFP/ Getty I mages I N NEW YORK, police have fenced off Times Square and nearby streets even though the ball was set to drop at the site synonymous with New Year’s Eve.

Asanka Ratnayake Getty I mages I N MELBOURNE, a couple welcome the new year at Federation Square. The Australian city called off its annual f ireworks show to discourage crowds.

Aung Shine Oo Associated Press