"Fanculo 2020".
For several days, a banner placed on a Venetian bridge has gone viral on social networks.
This farewell message to the current year, which will forever be that of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, sums up the state of mind of a large part of Earthlings as 2021 approaches. .
La meravigliosa #Venezia saluta così il 2020 sul Ponte Rialto..😆 pic.twitter.com/oBTydVO8Aq
- Dario BD (@ DBking85) December 29, 2020
This Thursday evening, we will celebrate the end of a year as much as the hope for better days ... Even if, in fact, can we sincerely use the term “celebration”?
Fireworks and its traditional midnight gong outpouring of joy have been canceled in almost all major cities, as have gatherings of more than six or ten people.
Copacabana beach will be empty
South America is one of the regions most affected by the new coronavirus.
Peru, Mexico, Ecuador… but also Brazil.
Rio de Janeiro
had to cancel its famous New Year's Eve on its Copacabana beach, the second biggest event in the city after carnival.
A heartbreaking for millions of people, while for his part, the footballer Neymar is preparing to receive 150 people for a private party.
"Nothing like the images of an empty Copacabana beach to pay tribute" to the victims of Covid-19, launched the City's chief of operations, Alexandre Cardeman.
Homage to the candle in South Africa
The South African authorities also want to take advantage of this lack of festivities to commemorate the 26,000 disappearances due to Covid-19.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on everyone to light a candle in their memory as the country is once again subject to drastic travel restrictions.
Since Monday, it is forbidden to sell alcohol, the curfew has been extended and the wearing of masks has been made compulsory everywhere in public spaces.
I will light a candle in Cape Town at exactly midnight on New Year's Eve in memory of those who have lost their lives and in tribute to those who are on the frontline working to save our lives and protect us from harm.
- Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 #StaySafe (@CyrilRamaphosa) December 28, 2020
In
Sydney
, the Australians will have a bit more luck.
The government has in recent days canceled the symbolic arrival of 5,000 caregivers on the banks in front of the Harbor Bridge, but the famous fireworks display has been maintained.
Already threatened with cancellation last year due to the gigantic fires that ravaged the country, it will this time be broadcast live on the Internet and on television.
The alternative of free… or paid virtual concerts
In
Europe
as in the
United States
or
Quebec
, it is also behind screens that we can attend the rare festivities.
Public meetings are officially banned almost everywhere.
No firecrackers fired in the German streets, therefore, nor bunches of grapes swallowed in the Barcelona “ramblas”…
Belgium
- the country most affected in the world in proportion to its population - even leaves itself the possibility of monitoring the outbreaks via equipped drones. thermal camera.
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In summary, we will have to be content with virtual shows, such as those offered in
France
by DJs David Guetta at the Louvre and Jean-Michel Jarre in a reconstructed Notre-Dame cathedral.
These will at least have the advantage of being free, unlike the streaming concert organized by the electronic music festival Tomorrowland.
The price of the “e-ticket” is set at 20 euros.
Almost normal life in Taipei and Auckland
In Asia too, the fear of an epidemic rebound is omnipresent.
Even if the mortality and the number of serious forms are much lower there, the fact remains that a number of usually very busy events will not take place Thursday evening.
This will be the case for Japan, which is facing a third wave of unprecedented violence with around forty deaths per day currently.
In
Tokyo
, not only were night trains phased out on New Year's Eve, but several of the big celebrations were canceled, including the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing party.
The same goes for
Hong Kong,
where the public will be deprived of the famous light show projected on the skyscrapers of Victoria Bay.
There too, he will have to go to the Internet for the famous countdown.
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Some Chinese provinces are opting for the same caution, particularly in Guangdong, in the Southeast.
But like the crowded nightclubs in Wuhan, New Year's Eve promises to be pretty cheerful overall.
In
Beijing
, the authorities have certainly limited the tourist influx and banned some major events, but most outdoor and indoor gatherings have been maintained.
And this, on one condition: that the reception capacity is limited to 75%.
It is on this gauge that the island of Taiwan was also based.
In fact - and this seems unimaginable in Europe - 80,000 people could come together at City Hall Plaza in Taipei.
VIDEO. Wuhan's nightclubs are packed
Not sure that we discover such crowds in
New Zealand
this Thursday evening.
However, it is indeed there - where we switch first in 2021 - that New Year's Eve promises to be the most peaceful and warm.
The archipelago has managed for several months to drive the virus from its land.
The capital Auckland will therefore offer itself the luxury of setting off its fireworks as it has always done.
"It deserves to be celebrated, and this year's spectacular exhibition will be a perfect opportunity for the people of Auckland to do so," said Mayor Phil Goff.