CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — This New Year’s Eve is being celebrated like no other, with pandemic restrictions limiting crowds and many people bidding farewell to a year they’d prefer to forget.
Australia was among the first nations to ring in 2021 because of its proximity to the International Date Line. It was a grim end to the year for New South Wales and Victoria, the country’s two most populous states, which are battling new COVID-19 outbreaks.
In past years 1 million people crowded Sydney’s harbor to watch fireworks that center on the Sydney Harbor Bridge, but most watched on television as authorities urged residents to stay home.
Locations on the harbor were fenced off, popular parks closed and famous night spots eerily deserted. A heavy police presence populated the otherwise quiet site, which resembled a ghost town. A 9 p.m. fireworks display was scrapped but a seven-minute pyrotechnics show at midnight brought momentary cheer as fireworks spectacularly lit up the iconic Harbor Bridge and its surroundings.
People were only allowed in downtown Sydney if they had a restaurant reservation or were one of five guests of an inner-city resident. People weren’t allowed in the city center without a permit.
Some harborside restaurants were charging up to 1,690 Australian dollars ($1,294) for a seat, Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Wednesday.
Sydney is Australia’s most populous city and has had its most active local transmission of the coronavirus in recent weeks.
Melbourne, Australia’s second most populous city, canceled its fireworks this year. “For the first time in many, many years we made the big decision, difficult decision to cancel the fireworks,” 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 notable contrast, the west coast city of Perth — which has not had community spread of the virus since April — celebrated the new year almost normally with large crowds flocking to watch two fireworks spectacles.
New Zealand, which is two hours ahead of Sydney, and several of its South Pacific island neighbors have no current COVID-19 cases, and New Year celebrations there were the same as ever.
In Chinese societies, the Lunar New Year celebration that falls in February in 2021 generally takes precedence over the solar New Year, on Jan. 1. While celebrations of the Western holiday have been growing more common in recent decades, this year will be more muted.
Beijing is holding a countdown ceremony with just a few invited guests, while other planned events have been canceled. And nighttime temperatures plunging to -15 Celsius (-5 Fahrenheit) will likely discourage people from spending the night out with friends.
Taiwan is hosting its usual New Year’s celebration, a fireworks display by its capital city’s iconic tower, Taipei 101, as well as a flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Office Building on New Year’s morning. The flag raising will be limited to government officials and invited guests after a traveler who recently arrived in Taiwan was found to be infected with the new variant of the coronavirus.
The island has been a success story in fighting the pandemic, registering only seven deaths and 700 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
