Auckland, Sydney … The world is gradually passing by in 2021

It is a very special New Year’s Eve that takes place all over the planet. Due to the coronavirus pandemic which has killed at least 1.7 million people around the world, a majority of residents are celebrating the passage in 2021 from home. From Sydney to Rome, they watch fireworks and performances behind a television or computer screen, provided the festivities have not been canceled. The small archipelago of Kiribati and the Samoa islands in the Pacific were the first to switch at 10 a.m. GMT in 2021, while the uninhabited islands of Howland and Baker will have to wait another 26 hours.

New Zealand – where only a few restrictions remain, making it one of the few on the planet where locals can celebrate the transition to 2021 without a screen interposed – followed an hour later, with large crowds gathered in Auckland to watch a fireworks display. Although largely untouched by the pandemic, the nations of the Pacific are experiencing a new kind of New Year due to border closures, curfews and containment. In Sydney, Australia’s largest city, the famous New Year’s fireworks display was fired over the Bay, but with no spectators nearing completion after a recent outbreak of contamination emerged in the north of the city which totals some 150 cases.

No gatherings

Likewise, it is from their living room that the Romans will attend the festivities that will take place at Circus Maximus, the oldest stadium in the city. Two hours of shows are on the program as well as an illumination of the most emblematic sites of the city. The municipality has banned the fireworks and firecrackers which usually resound in the streets and squares of the city. Italy, where photos of improvised mortuaries and exhausted caregivers have made the rest of the planet aware of the severity of the crisis, is subject to lockdown until January 7 and a curfew from 22 hours. The 31st celebrations are prohibited in both public and private places.

From France to Latvia via Brazil, police officers and, in certain cases, soldiers will be deployed to ensure compliance with curfews or bans on gatherings. In London, badly affected, the 74-year-old American singer Patti Smith will give a livestream concert, in tribute to caregivers of the NHS, the public health system of the United Kingdom, who died of Covid-19. It will be shown live on the Piccadilly Circus screen and broadcast on YouTube.

“Hope”

In Russia, around ten people swam in the icy waters of Lake Baikal in Siberia, as they do every year, braving extreme temperatures ranging between -26 and -35 ° C. To celebrate the New Year, these winter swimming enthusiasts, nicknamed “walruses”, first ran a few kilometers in the snow, in their underwear. “Today, the water is at 2 ° C, it is good and gives shape,” Andreï Bougaï told Agence France-Presse after leaving the water.

In Dubai, thousands of people are expected to witness a fireworks and laser show at the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world, despite new cases. All people will need to wear a mask or register using a QR code. In Beirut, still reeling from the deadly and devastating August 4 explosion, authorities also relaxed measures. The curfew has been extended to 3 a.m. Bars, restaurants and nightclubs have reopened and have big New Years parties.

All over the world, a difficult tomorrow is feared. In Brazil, the second most bereaved country in the world, doctors fear a new wave. Videos of people partying without masks are circulating on social networks, and television has broadcast images of police closing bars crowded with customers. In Germany, in her New Year’s greetings, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that this “historic” coronavirus crisis was set to continue in 2021 even if the vaccine brings “hope”.