New Year 2021: the world says goodbye to 2020 with fireworks, empty streets and few celebrations

4 min readJan 2, 2021

The world greeted the year 2021 with fireworks, empty streets and few celebrations due to the restrictions caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

While many venues chose not to cancel fireworks displays, they did ban public gatherings and parties.

The celebrations were particularly muted in Europe, amid fears over the circulation of a new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus.

Marked by the pandemic covid-19, 2020 ends with m ore than 1 , 8 million of dead worldwide . More than 81 million cases of infections have been registered.

Here we tell you how 2021 arrived in some parts of the planet in the midst of this crisis.

Europe and USA
France mobilized 100,000 policemen in urban areas to break up the New Year’s Eve parties and enforce the curfew from 8:00 p.m. on Thursday.

In Paris, half of the metro lines were closed at night.

France has gone through two quarantines and during the New Year, bars, restaurants and cultural attractions will be closed.

With the new strain of coronavirus spreading rapidly and 20 million people in the worst affected regions forced to stay at home, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged his country’s citizens to follow the rules.

“That means not meeting with friends or family, unless they live in the same home or in the same support bubble, and avoiding large gatherings of any kind,” he said Wednesday.

The Metropolitan Police issued a warning to Londoners to celebrate the new year “in the comfort of their own homes”.

Ireland went to its highest level of restrictions on Thursday, banning all home visits, closing all non-essential retail stores and limiting travel to a five-kilometer radius.

Germany is serving a quarantine until January 10. The government has banned the sale of fireworks and has imposed strict restrictions on the number of people who can gather in public.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said the country would have “the calmest New Year’s Eve” in memory.

Italy imposed a curfew from 10pm and bars, restaurants and most shops are closed. Meanwhile, Pope Francis will not direct New Year’s Eve and New Year’s services in Rome after suffering a recurrence of his chronic hip pain.

The Netherlands also changed the year under a mandatory lockdown that will last until January 19.

Turkey begins the year with a four-day lockdown.

In the United States, authorities placed restrictions on the holidays in many states and cities. Fireworks were canceled in cities like San Francisco and Las Vegas.

In New York, the descent of the famous Times Square illuminated ball was not suspended during the traditional countdown to midnight, but the area was closed to the public.

Asia and Oceania
One of the first countries to ring in the New Year was Australia. Sydney’s fireworks display remained, but authorities did not allow crowds to gather at the city’s harbor to view it.

“We don’t want to create high-profile events on New Year’s Eve,” said New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Many Sydney residents simply watched the fireworks on television from home, where gatherings are limited to five guests.

In China , the annual New Year’s light show in the capital Beijing was canceled. The celebrations were reduced in cities across the country.

Japan canceled a traditional New Years event in which Emperor Naruhito and other members of the imperial family greet people.

In India , Delhi and several other cities imposed a night curfew and other restrictions to avoid large New Year’s gatherings.

https://zenodo.org/communities/sector9repelis/?page=1&size=20

https://zenodo.org/communities/gattacarepelis/?page=1&size=20

https://zenodo.org/communities/lamascaradelzorrorepelis/?page=1&size=20

https://zenodo.org/communities/hastaelcielorepelis/?page=1&size=20

https://zenodo.org/communities/titanicrepelis/?page=1&size=20

https://zenodo.org/communities/johnwick1repelis/?page=1&size=20

https://zenodo.org/communities/mipobreangelitorepelis/?page=1&size=20