New Zealand and Australia have welcomed in 2021 with huge crowds and firework displays, in stark contrast to Brits who face NYE at home in lockdown.
Most countries have been forced to put on muted celebrations as a second wave of coronavirus sweeps the globe.
Others, such as the UK, have cancelled events outright amid the spread of a second more infectious variant.
Samoa and Christmas Island became the first place to welcome 2021 at 10am this morning.
New Zealand, which has been hailed for its handling of the pandemic, came in next.
The country and several of its South Pacific island neighbours have no active Covid-19 cases, so held their usual New Year’s celebrations.
Pictures show thousands of people gathered to watch a firework display on the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
Hundreds of others celebrated at the Viaduct Harbour where people basked in the sunshine before the final sunset of 2020, according to the New Zealand herald.
Taiwan also hosted its usual New Year’s celebration after bringing coronavirus under control. The island, which has registered only seven deaths and 700 confirmed cases, held a fireworks display by its capital city’s iconic Taipei 101 tower.
Australia rang in 2021 shortly after New Zealand. In past years one million people crowded Sydney’s harbour to watch fireworks but instead, most watched on television as authorities urged residents to stay home.
The country’s most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, are battling new Covid-19 outbreaks.
Locations on the Sydney harbour were fenced off, popular parks closed and famous night spots eerily deserted.
A 9pm fireworks display was scrapped but a seven-minute pyrotechnics show at midnight brought momentary cheer.
Entry into the harbourside city area was only open to a few hundred people granted special permits to dine or visit their friends and family.
The harbour bridge was lit up in a constellation of blue, pink, green, purple and yellow lights throughout the night, while crowds still gathered where they could to watch the show.
Perth and Darwin and Hobart stuck to their traditional New Year’s Eve programme with fireworks exploding from 9:30pm.
Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide cancelled their displays to avoid large gathering and community transmission of the virus, but major party hotspots such as Surfers Paradise and St Kilda were packed with revellers.
Mayor Sally Capp said: ‘We did that because we know that it attracts up to 450,000 people into the city for one moment at midnight to enjoy a spectacular display and music. We are not doing that this year.’
In South Korea, Seoul’s city government cancelled its annual New Year’s Eve bell-ringing ceremony in the Jongno neighbourhood for the first time since the event was first held in 1953, months after the end of the Korean War.
The ceremony normally draws an estimated 100,000 people and is broadcast live.
Authorities in coastal areas of eastern South Korea closed beaches and other spots where hundreds of thousands of people typically gather on New Year’s Day to watch the sunrise.
In Chinese societies, the Lunar New Year, which in 2021 will fall in February, generally takes precedence over the January 1 solar New Year.
Beijing scheduled a countdown ceremony with just a few invited guests, while other planned events were cancelled.
Crowds were also out on the streets of Wuhan, where the virus is thought to have originated
Much of Japan welcomed 2021 quietly at home, alarmed after Tokyo reported a record daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases. The capital reported about 1,300 on Thursday, topping 1,000 for the first time.
Millions of Indians planned to usher in the new year with subdued celebrations at home because of night curfews, a ban on beach parties and restrictions on movement in major cities and towns after the new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus reached the country.
Despite a surge in infections, the Gulf hub of Dubai pressed ahead with its mass New Year’s Eve celebrations, including the annual fireworks show around the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower.
In the UK government officials have warned Brits to cancel New years eve parties because ‘Covid loves a crowd.’
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