As the world says goodbye to 2020, there will be countdowns and live performances, but no massed jubilant crowds in traditional gathering spots like the Champs Elysees in Paris and New York City's Times Square this New Year's Eve. The virus that ruined 2020 has led to cancelations of most fireworks displays and public events in favor of made-for-TV-only moments in party spots like London and Rio de Janeiro.
Fireworks and drones illuminate the night sky over London as they form a light display as London's normal New Year's Eve fireworks display was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Confetti flies after the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball drops in a nearly empty Times Square, as the area normally packed with revelers remained closed off due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Jaclyn Bernstein, of New York, lies in confetti after the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball dropped in Times Square, in New York. Bernstein, an owner of an event planning company who said she has done no business all year, was invited to the event as part of a much smaller crowd due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
A couple take a selfie photo at the Palace Square during New Year celebration in downtown St. Petersburg, Russia.
Crowds of people celebrate the New Year around the Christmas tree with the St. Sofia Cathedral in the background in Kyiv, Ukraine. Despite of COVID-19 quarantine restrictions, a lot of Ukrainians enjoy outdoor New Year events, often ignoring protective measures.
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as New Year celebrations begin in Sydney, Australia. One million people would usually crowd the Sydney Harbor to watch the annual fireworks that center on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But this year authorities advised revelers to watch the fireworks on television as the two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria battle to curb new COVID-19 outbreaks.
Fireworks explode over the Kremlin and almost empty Red Square during New Year's celebrations near the Spasskaya Tower during New Year's celebrations, in Moscow, Russia.
Fireworks explode over the ancient Acropolis hill with the Parthenon temple on the right and the Propylea on the left during the New Year's Eve celebrations in Athens.
Fireworks are launched from the Sky Tower to mark the changing of the year on New Year's eve in Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand and its South Pacific island neighbors have no COVID-19, and New Year celebrations there are the same as ever.
People wearing face masks hang paper notes bearing their New Year wishes to wires at Jogyesa Buddhist temple in Seoul, South Korea. The sign at top reads; "Goodby corona."
Fireworks explode over Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand, during New Year celebrations.
Dubai celebrates the new year in China on the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, to mark New Year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
A few fireworks explodes in front of the television tower and a hotel, which displayed a heart on his facade, shortly after midnight on New Year in Berlin. Public New Years celebrations are banned in Berlin because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Fireworks explode over a not-too-crowded square with a Christmas tree and and the main mosque during New Year's celebrations in Grozny, Russia,
Fireworks and drones illuminate the night sky over London as they form a light display as London's normal New Year's Eve fireworks display was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, fireworks illuminate the night sky, marking the New Year, as crowds of people look on, at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Fireworks detonate from the Taipei 101 building during the New Year's celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan.
Fireworks light the sky during the New Year's celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Germany is entering 2021 in a lockdown that appears certain to be extended beyond its current Jan. 10 end date, with new coronavirus cases and deaths related to COVID-19 remaining at worryingly high levels.
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as New Year celebrations begin in Sydney, Australia.
People holding cellphones stand by their windows in Lisbon in the first minutes of Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. Public celebrations and the traditional new year fireworks were cancelled and a curfew imposed in Portugal to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Despite a ban on gatherings and fireworks, a few hundred people gathered on Dam Square in front of the Royal Palace, rear, to celebrate New Year in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
A group of people celebrate the start of the New Year as they look across from the embankment towards the London Eye ferris wheel by the River Thames in London. The London Eye is one of the traditional sites for New Year's Eve firework display, but it has been cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions in place to try and stop its spread.
Passengers, some of them wearing Moroz (Santa Claus, or Father Frost) hats drink inside a party bus celebrating New Year driving through Moscow, Russia. While restaurants and other entertainment venues close its doors across the country at 23:00, Muscovites look for ways to bend the coronavirus restrictions. One of them is a party bus whose owners offer to spend the New Year night touring around the city and having drinks with other strangers.
The Times Square New Year's Eve Ball drops as confetti flies in an empty Times Square as the area normally packed with revelers remained closed off due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Fireworks detonate from the Taipei 101 building during the New Year's celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan.
Despite a ban on gatherings and fireworks, a few hundred people gathered on Dam Square in front of the Royal Palace, rear, to celebrate New Year in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Sophie Jackson and Monique Lee, both from Christchurch, attend New Year celebrations in Hagley Park, Christchurch, New Zealand. New Zealand and its South Pacific island neighbors have no COVID-19, and New Year celebrations there are the same as ever.
Warsaw residents launch fireworks near their apartment blocs to greet New Year as mass events were banned under anti-COVID-19 restrictions, in Warsaw, Poland.
People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus hold incense and offer prayers on the first day of the New Year at Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing. President Xi Jinping said in a New Year address that China has made major progress in developing its economy and eradicating rural poverty over the past year despite the coronavirus pandemic.
People walk at the waterfront of the Victoria Harbor to celebrate the New Year's Eve ahead of the year 2021, in Hong Kong.
