By Jennifer Jett -
NBC News
Another year, another variant of the coronavirus.
As it did last year with the delta variant of COVID-19, this Friday ends 2021 with the expansion of a new strain of the coronavirus, shattering hopes that the end of the pandemic could be in sight.
And while so far the new variant, omicron, appears to have milder symptoms and lower rates of hospitalization and death, many countries around the world are being cautious and cutting back on their celebrations to ring in the New Year.
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There will be no traditional shows on most of the world's monuments and
fireworks have been canceled at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris,
Big Ben in London and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.
A notable exception is Australia, where the spectacular fireworks over Sydney Harbor continued despite a growing outbreak of infections.
Fireworks over Sydney Harbor during New Years celebrations in Sydney, Australia on January 1, 2022.JAIMI JOY / REUTERS
"What I would like people to do tomorrow night is enjoy the evening
," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a news conference on Thursday.
Dominic Perrottet, prime minister of New South Wales, the region that includes Sydney, said this week that people should "go out and enjoy the New Year," even as the state reported a daily record of more than 20,000 cases on Friday.
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Dec. 31, 202104: 34
The permissive attitude of the Australian authorities contrasts with that of last year, when Sydney residents needed a permit to enter the Central Business District and were warned against hugs and kisses at midnight.
Along with Australia, one of the first places in the world to welcome 2022 is New Zealand, which has yet to report any community spread of the omicron variant.
Fears of the virus led to the cancellation of fireworks shows across the country, but a midnight light show went ahead in Auckland.
Restrictions were recently lifted in the city, New Zealand's largest, which was closed for 107 days after a delta outbreak in August.
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"It's been very positive because obviously we've been locked in," Eleanor Rawson said by phone from Mo's bar in Auckland, where she celebrated the New Year with friends at 6:00 AM EST. USA).
"It is the first time that we go out and we can mix, so we feel very good," he
added.
Rawson expects a "semi-normal lifestyle" in 2022, and that
"people find a sense of balance for themselves and a sense of happiness
.
"
Attendees at a New Year's Eve event in Beijing, China, Friday, Dec. 31, 2021.Ng Han Guan / AP
In China, where 13 million people in the city of Xi'an have been locked up for more than a week for a coronavirus outbreak weeks before the Beijing Olympics, events in multiple cities have been canceled.
Citizens have also been asked not to travel during the upcoming Lunar New Year, China's most important holiday, marking the third consecutive year that it has been affected by the pandemic.
In Hong Kong, authorities on Friday asked the public not to attend New Year's events, but did not cancel them, while the Chinese territory confirmed its first cases of local transmission of the omicron variant.
The annual fireworks show had already been canceled, although there will be an open-air concert with the popular Hong Kong boy band Mirror.
Fireworks continued in Taiwan, which is virtually COVID-19 free, with the Taipei 101 skyscraper lighting up floor by floor in what organizers describe as "the world's longest New Year's Eve countdown."
The celebrations were duller in South Korea, which ended the year on Friday by extending stricter social distancing rules for two weeks.
These rules include closing restaurants at 9 p.m. and limiting meetings to four fully vaccinated people, Reuters reported.
In North Korea, a New Year's celebration seemed planned in the capital, Pyongyang, when Kim Jong-un turns 10 in power.
A stage was set up in the main central square, NK News reported, citing its analysis of satellite images.
Political party workers and others stand in front of a huge kite to welcome 2022 on New Year's Eve in Ahmedabad, India, Friday, Dec. 31, 2021.Ajit Solanki / AP
In India, New Years celebrations have been largely hampered by curfews and other restrictions in major cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai.
A rare good news for those who hope to celebrate the New Year in style came from South Africa, which lifted the curfew that prevented the movement of people from midnight to 4 in the morning, considering that the country has exceeded the peak of its fourth wave of COVID-19 fueled by the omicron variant.
Residents of the Canadian province of Quebec will have to go home well before midnight on Friday, as a curfew goes into effect from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Describing the situation as "extreme," Prime Minister François Legault said Thursday that restaurant canteens will also be closed and private gatherings banned.
