Masks, vaccination certificates and less crowds at New Year’s Eve in Times Square

Due to the large increase in cases of covid-19, the celebration that takes place every year on New Year’s Eve in Times Square in New York will be held with a smaller number of people and with the obligatory use of a mask, US Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday.

For the second year in a row, the coronavirus casts its shadow on the festive events in Times Square, which traditionally, since the beginning of the 20th century, gathers thousands of people from all over the country and of course tourists.

After many hours of live music and entertainment, the night culminates just minutes before midnight when a huge crystal ball falls, marking the beginning of the new year.

Last year the ball and confetti in this emblematic New York square fell in front of very few spectators, including front line workers and their families, due to the pandemic that had hit the city particularly hard.

Democrat Blazio had promised in mid-November that the crowds would return to Times Square in mid-November, but a month later plans changed.

15,000 spectators will be able to watch the events, while normally about 58,000 participated in them. After all, everyone who attends the famous square must have made a reservation, put on a mask and demonstrated a vaccination certificate.

Due to the variant strain Omicron, the city of New York, with a population of about 9 million, is facing a large outbreak of cases. A record 11,000 new infections were recorded on Wednesday, according to the mayor’s office.

But vaccination has so far prevented a large influx of patients into hospitals, as had happened in the spring of 2020.

However, many restaurants and event halls were forced to temporarily suspend their operations due to covid-19 cases among their staff. In addition, many Broadway performances have been forced to stop due to employee infections, while the New York City Ballet announced on Wednesday that the performances of “The Nutcracker” are suspended.

At least 34,000 New Yorkers have died from covid-19 since the spring of 2020.

New York’s new mayor, Eric Adams, who takes office in January, also said he supported de Blasio’s move, adding that he would postpone his swearing-in ceremony, scheduled for January 1, due to the Omicron cases.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ