Sydney / Wellington Hundreds of millions of people in Europe have welcomed the year 2022 – in the hope that the corona pandemic will end soon. In Germany the old year ended with unusually mild temperatures. Despite another general ban on the sale of fireworks in order to relieve the hospitals of additional patients, firecrackers could be heard in many places in Germany, and colorful rockets could also be seen in the sky. Compared to previous years, however, the night was much quieter. Because of the pandemic and especially out of fear of the new Omicron virus variant, private celebrations were only allowed on a small scale nationwide.
Germany’s largest New Year’s Eve party at the Brandenburg Gate had been canceled. From there, ZDF broadcast its traditional New Year’s Eve show live, but without an audience on site. The Berlin police reminded about midnight on Twitter that there would be no fireworks this year. On Unter den Linden, near the Brandenburg Gate, more and more people came together to celebrate the turn of the year.
For many people at home in their living room the TV sketch “Dinner for One”, which has been broadcast for decades on New Year’s Eve, was realized, in which two people get drunk with friends who are not even there. This time Joko and Klaas also played the old sketch on ProSieben at prime time.
Some streets in Germany looked like they had been swept empty. The police were deployed in Berlin with a large contingent of 2,500 troops who also had an eye on the hot spots.
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In many countries around the world, New Year’s Eve celebrations were more subdued than usual due to Corona. Many large parties and fireworks were canceled, including festivities in Paris and London.
Kick-off in the South Sea Islands
In many countries around the world, the new year started much earlier: The South Sea islands of Samoa and Kiribati were the first in the world – already at 11 a.m. Central European time – to slip into the new year.
New Zealand followed an hour later, although most events and the fireworks from the Sky Tower in Auckland as well as all public events in other cities such as Christchurch and Wellington had been canceled due to Corona.
In Sydney, Australia – in contrast to last year’s New Year – tens of thousands of spectators were once again admitted to the fireworks in front of the opera house. Interested parties had to buy a ticket in advance for one of around 30 viewpoints. In the state of New South Wales, in which Sydney is located, the corona numbers are exploding due to the spread of the omicron variant.
In China, several cities canceled fireworks and major festivities due to corona, including Beijing and Wuhan, the city where the corona virus first broke out in late 2019. New Year’s Eve is not in itself a particularly important holiday for the Chinese. According to their traditional lunar calendar, this time the new year doesn’t start until the beginning of February.
In Thailand – one of the few long-distance destinations where numerous tourists are currently staying – many restaurants were exceptionally allowed to open until 1.00 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. In the capital Bangkok, tens of thousands of locals and tourists welcomed the New Year on the famous backpacker mile Khaosan Road. The corona numbers in Thailand have so far been low despite the Omikron variant.
Dubai welcomed the New Year with colorful fireworks and a laser show on the tallest building in the world. In Moscow there was a big fireworks display at the Kremlin and Red Square at 10 p.m. CET.
In other countries, people have to be patient: Parts of Brazil and Argentina can’t start the New Year until 4:00 a.m. CET, followed by New York at 6:00 a.m., Los Angeles at 9:00 a.m. and Honolulu in Hawaii at 11:00 a.m.
It will take until 1 p.m. CET on January 1st for the whole globe to slide into the new year. Last up are the uninhabited islets of Baker Island and Howland Island in the Pacific.
More: Fireworks ban on New Year’s Eve: Industry fears “death blow”