Sydney
The world began ushering in the New Year on Thursday, with pandemic controls muting celebrations for billions of people, eager to bid farewell to a virus-ridden 2020.
After a grinding year that has seen at least 1.7 million people die from Covid-19, fresh waves of infection have sparked renewed lockdowns and forced would-be revellers to extend their 2020 tradition of watching events from the sofa.
From Sydney to Rome, firework displays, pyre burnings and live performances was watched online or on television.
The eagerly awaited first lights of 2021 fell on the Pacific nations of Kiribati and Samoa from 1000 GMT, with the uninhabited Howland and Baker Islands the last to tip over into the New Year, 26 hours later.
New Zealand, which has won plaudits for its handling of the coronavirus, followed an hour later with large crowds
gathered in Auckland to watch a fireworks display.
Although still isolated by international border closures, months of zero recorded cases in the community has let life in New Zealand return to relative normality.
In Australia – largest city, Sydney, pyrotechnics lighted up the glittering harbour with a dazzling display at 1300 GMT, but few spectators were there to watch in person.
Plans to allow crowds were scrapped amid a cluster of around 150 new infections that have seen travel to and from Sydney severely restricted.
“I think everybody is looking towards 2021 as a fresh beginning and a fresh start,” Karen Roberts, among the lucky few who were allowed past checkpoints around the area, told AFP at a bar nestled under the Sydney Opera House.
Similarly, Romans will live-stream the burning of an enormous pyre in Circus Maximus, the ancient city s stadium, alongside a two-hour event featuring artist performances and illuminated views of iconic sites.
Italy — where shocking images of makeshift morgues and exhausted medics awoke the world to the severity of the crisis — is on a nationwide lockdown until January 7 and a 10 pm curfew is in place.
From France to Latvia to Brazil, police and — in some cases — military personnel are being deployed to make sure night-time curfews or bans on large gatherings are enforced.
