Omicron’s New Year’s Eve celebrations are stifled by COVID rules.
As the Omicron type continues to spread despite limitations, most of the festivals and events have been cancelled or toned back.
Paris cancelled its fireworks extravaganza, London relegated it to television, and New York City scaled down its famed ball drop celebration in Times Square because of the Omicron coronavirus type.
Only 15,000 people were allowed into the official viewing area for the ball made of Waterford crystal panels that slid down its shaft at midnight in Times Square.
The Omicron coronavirus variant has been confirmed in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy.
This year’s New Year’s Eve was marked by a strange sense of déjà vu, with hospitals across Europe and the United States being overrun by the rapidly spreading Omicron variety.
New Year’s Eve celebrations take place in Times Square, New York City, as the Omicron coronavirus subtype continues to spread. Image copyright Reuters
COVID-19 may be under control by the beginning of 2022, a year ago, thanks to a newly accessible vaccination. Omicron, on the other hand, has triggered a spike in coronavirus cases over the world.
Student Sue Park, one of the 15,000 allowed to watch live, admitted, “I would be lying if I claimed I wasn’t concerned.” “I am frightened,” Sue Park admitted. Yes, I think it’s worthwhile to join in the festivities.”
“We’re persevering,” remarked US Vice President Joe Biden, despite the losses and uncertainty the pandemic has brought. We’re getting back on track.
“It’s time to get to work again. It’s time to go back to school again. Back to joy,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter. The only way we got through this year was in this manner. And how we’ll deal with the future. Together.
After a scientific team determined that large crowds on the Champs-Elysees were too dangerous, city officials cancelled planned pyrotechnics and DJ sets for Midnight in Paris.
There was a concert held in Berlin without a live audience near the Brandenburg Gate, which prompted authorities to ask visitors to avoid the area.
Over a thousand individuals were evicted from Amsterdam’s central Dam Square by police after they defied the Netherlands’ rule on groups of more than four, according to ANP news agency.
St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge are illuminated at the start of the new year with a special light show. Reuters/Toby Melville
To make up for the October cancellation, the city of London said on Friday that the New Year’s Eve light show and fireworks display had been rescheduled to be shown live on television.
Just in time for the New Year, the city of Cape Town, South Africa, the site of the initial reports of the Omicron variety, removed its curfew.
Manager Michael Mchede of the Hard Rock Cafe at Camps Bay Beach, excited to prepare the venue for an unexpected party, expressed his hope, “that Cape Town will return to the old Cape Town that we all knew about.
Just a few hours earlier, Sydney, Australia, had welcomed the New Year with a similar sense of swagger and a display of stunning fireworks over the harbour, including the Opera House.
At the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebrations, a woman wears 2022 spectacles. [Hannah Beier/Reuters]
Numerous security checkpoints, required masks, and a 60 percent reduction in capacity hampered entry to Madrid’s famed Puerta del Sol area as people stood in line for hours. There were just 7,000 persons in attendance, compared to the usual 20,000.
The celebrations, which the Spanish mark by cramming 12 grapes into their mouths to mimic each chime of the clock striking midnight, were illuminated by a dazzling firework show.
The traditional fireworks above the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur were either reduced back or cancelled entirely across Asia.
On New Year’s Eve in Madrid, revellers congregate in the Puerta del Sol square [Javier Barbancho/Reuters]
Traditional midnight bell-ringing ceremonies in South Korea and Tokyo’s Shibuya entertainment zone have been cancelled for the second year in a row, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has urged people to wear masks and limit the number of guests at celebrations.
The city of Xi’an was put under lockdown and New Year’s Eve celebrations were cancelled in other Chinese cities when the coronavirus was discovered in late 2019.
According to data released by Johns Hopkins University, over 288 million people throughout the world have been infected with the coronavirus since late 2019 and over 5 million have died as a result.
