World enters 2021 under Covid shadow
Updated 3 years ago ·
Published on 1 Jan 2021 7:36AM ·
WITH revelry around the world curtailed by lockdowns and curfews to stem the spread of Covid-19, the lions of London’s Trafalgar Square are barricaded off, and there are no crowds in St Peter’s Square and no one diving into the Tiber in Rome.
This New Year’s eve is celebrated like no other as many people bid farewell to a year they would much prefer to forget – one that has seen more than 1.7 million people killed and 82 million infected by the coronavirus since January. – January 1, 2021.
Fireworks illuminate the sky around Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, during New Year's eve celebrations in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. – EPA pic, January 1, 2021.
A street vendor sits in front of the Blue Mosque on New Year's eve in Istanbul, Turkey, where the government has enforced a lockdown from December 31 to January 04. – AFP pic, January 1, 2021.
Fireworks go off at midnight over Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Opera House on New Year's eve in Sydney, Australia. The people of Sydney have been asked to stay home and watch the pyrotechnics on television this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. – EPA pic, January 1, 2021.
No one will be jumping into the Tiber in New Year's eve revels this year, with a curfew in effect that has left the Piazza di Spagna empty of people, in central Rome, Italy, on December 31, 2020. – AFP pic, January 1, 2021.
Fireworks explode over the ancient Acropolis in Athens, Greece, on December 31, 2020. – AFP pic, January 1, 2021.
Performers play to an empty house in the countdown ceremony in the closed Johan Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on December 31, 2020. – EPA pic, January 1, 2021.
People take pictures on The Bund waterfront near Peal Tower, where a light show heralds the start of the New Year, in Shanghai, China, on December 31, 2020. – EPA pic, January 1, 2021.
The Kremlin and the Red Square are bathed in the light of fireworks at midnight on the last day of the year, in Moscow, Russia. – EPA pic, January 1, 2021.
Policemen are the only people out on New Year’s eve at the Embankment, in front of the London Eye, in London, Britain. – EPA pic, January 1, 2021.
Candles are lit in memory of the victims of Covid-19, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on New Year's eve. The city is in lockdown due to a wave of infections sweeping across the country, which is the first African nation to pass one million coronavirus cases. – EPA pic, January 1, 2021.
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