Under the epidemic, countries also have “new postures” on New Year’s Eve…
Every New Year’s Eve, celebrations are held around the world to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, but on December 31, 2020, it was different from the past due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
While the lively streets have become deserted by the “lockdown” and offline parties have been replaced by “cloud parties”, the eager expectations for the new year have not changed…
Under the epidemic, how can countries around the world celebrate the New Year?
The prevention and control are powerful and wonderful.
New Zealand
Due to its time zone, Auckland, New Zealand, is the first major city in the world to welcome 2021.
According to the New Zealand health department, as of 9:00 local time on December 31, 2020, in the past 48 hours, New Zealand has six new confirmed cases of imported COVID-19, and there are no local transmission cases.
Being able to return to normal life on New Year’s Eve is due to New Zealand’s earlier and strict national “lockdown” measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.
On the afternoon of December 31, local time, New Year’s celebrations have begun in some parts of downtown Auckland. At 00: 00 on January 1, 2021, the sky tower, an Oakland landmark building, held a grand fireworks show.
In addition to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Christchurch and other New Zealand cities have also held concerts. There are entertainment activities such as food, music and fireworks shows, and people are looking forward to the arrival of 2021.
Australia
New Year’s Eve was also held with Australia in the southern hemisphere. At 00:00 local time on January 1, fireworks bloomed over Sydney Harbour, Australia, illuminating the whole night, marking Sydney’s official entry into a new year.
In Melbourne, another city in Australia, the city council decided to cancel the traditional fireworks show and instead, Melbourne city center will hold a two-day “New Year’s Street Feast” celebration from December 31 to January 1.
The celebration includes street parties held in specific areas. The CBD of Melbourne is divided into 11 jurisdictions, blocking traffic on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Diners can enjoy delicious food on the road. They only need to book in advance and the people can participate in the activity.
Canberra held flash temporary music performances on New Year’s Eve, replacing traditional fireworks and concerts. Flash shows include buildings including the Royal Australian Mint and the national bell towers lit up, local musicians playing music on the streets of the city, etc. The local municipality also encourages Canberra residents to eat out in the city center to support local restaurants.
Online New Year’s Eve, applause is still the same
Some countries and regions with high risk of epidemic transmission have retained some iconic New Year’s Eve activities, but cancelled offline participation. The New Year’s Eve activities in these countries will be presented to the public through live television or webcast.
United States
As of December 31, 2020, local time, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States has exceeded 1989 million. In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, the New Year’s Eve event in Times Square in New York banned audiences from attending the scene and was changed to live online. Only 100 staff members who helped keep New York running during the epidemic were invited to participate in the offline event on New Year’s Eve.
On the evening of December 31, 2020, the New York Police Department blocked Times Square and deployed police to prevent pedestrians and vehicles from passing through.
At 00:00 on January 1, 2021, the world-famous crystal ball fell as usual. Audiences watched the New Year’s Eve activities live online to welcome the arrival of 2021.
Austria
Previously, according to local media reports, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra will continue its tradition for many years, holding a New Year’s concert in Vienna’s Golden Hall on January 1, 2021. However, due to the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, there will be no live audience at the New Year’s concert.
In the past, Vienna New Year’s concerts have always had “interactive” sessions. Every year, when the final track “Radsky March” sounds, the audience will applaud to the music rhythm under the guidance of the conductor. But this year, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Austrian state television launched a “cloud” applause program to solicit photos and applause from the public in advance. Photos will insert pictures during the live broadcast of the concert, and the audience’s applause will be rang up through the sound of the concert hall near the end of the concert.
South Korea
On December 6, 2020, the Seoul government of South Korea announced that due to the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, the annual bell-ringing ceremony scheduled for midnight on December 31, 2020 in Pusingok will be cancelled. This is the first time that the New Year celebration has been cancelled since the bell-ring ceremony began in 1953.
However, the Seoul Municipal Government has replaced it with online video of the pre-recorded bell-ringing ceremony, and the videos of the New Year’s bell-ringing ceremony in previous years will also be broadcast on the Seoul Municipal Government’s official website and television channels.
In addition to the annual bell-ringing ceremony, the activities of watching the New Year’s sunrise have also become “cloud” viewing. Seoul Broadcasting Corporation broadcast the New Year’s sunrise scene in Ulsan City live.
Stay at home for the New Year’s Eve, and the fight against the epidemic is still the same.
In countries and regions with severe epidemics, in response to the still severe COVID-19 epidemic, the government canceled New Year’s Eve activities and imposed a strict curfew. Some countries have dispatched a large number of police to ensure the implementation of the New Year’s Eve curfew.
France
As a rule, France’s annual New Year’s celebrations attract tens of thousands of people to gather in the Champs-Elysees in Paris, and the large-scale sound and light show of the Arc de Triomphe has climaxed the festive atmosphere. However, with more than 2.62 million confirmed cases, the French Ministry of the Interior has earlier said that on New Year’s Eve, 100,000 police will be deployed throughout the law to strictly supervise the people’s compliance with the “curfew” and prevent unauthorized gatherings, urban violence and other illegal acts.
Although the epidemic prevention and control has affected the festive atmosphere, French President Macron said that he hoped that everyone could refresh their spirits and welcome the new year. “No matter what happens in 2021, we can meet the challenges,” he stressed.
Greece
The Greek government also deployed epidemic prevention during the New Year’s holiday in a special conference call on December 31, 2020 local time. During the New Year, the curfew from 22:00 to 5 a.m. the next day is still maintained, and the Greeks must abide by the rule that only two families should attend a maximum of nine people when holding the gathering. If illegal gatherings are found, the people can report to the police, and the police can enter the residents’ homes for inspection according to the report.
Greek Minister of Civil Protection Hrissotides said that on New Year’s Eve, Athens dispatched 4,000 police to investigate and punish violations of the epidemic prevention ban to ensure that the epidemic prevention restrictions are respected to the greatest extent possible.
Turkey
Turkey imposed a national “foot ban” on New Year’s Eve, which will last for 80 hours until 05:00 local time on January 4. During this period, people are not allowed to go out without special circumstances, some streets and squares in Turkey will be closed, hotels are prohibited from holding New Year’s Eve celebrations, supermarkets, grocery stores, etc. are only open between 10:00 and 17:00 a.m. every day.
Famous tourist attractions in Turkey, including Istanbul Independence Street, Blue Mosque Square, Kizilay National Will Square in the capital Ankara, etc., were also closed from 21:00 on December 31, 2020 to 10:00 on January 1, covering New Year’s Eve.
In addition, many countries, including Poland and India, have also imposed “curfew” on New Year’s Eve. Local governments have cancelled New Year’s Eve activities to control the epidemic and restricted people’s travel.
In 2020, precisely because of the repeated and volatile epidemic, when 2021 comes, everyone has more installments and expectations…
As UN Secretary-General Guterres said in his New Year’s speech, I hope 2021 will become a “year of healing”. Heal the impact of COVID-19, heal the broken economy and society, heal the division, and start to heal the earth.
