New Years Eve muted by Omicron; Many hope for better 2022

PARIS (AP) – Sorrow for the dead and dying, fear of new infections to come and hopes of ending the coronavirus pandemic were – again – the bittersweet cocktail the world said good with storage room until 2021 and inaugurated in 2022.

New Years Eve, which was once celebrated around the world with a wild and free spirit, felt more like a deja vu, with the fast-spreading omicron variant filling hospitals again.

At La Timone hospital in Marseille, in the south of France, Dr Fouad Bouzana could only sigh when asked what 2022 could bring.

“It’s starting to get exhausting,” he said, “because the waves follow one another.”

The mostly muted New Year’s celebrations around the world ushered in the fourth calendar year framed by the global pandemic. More than 285 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide since the end of 2019 and more than 5 million have died.

In Paris, authorities canceled the fireworks amid the upsurge in infections and reintroduced the compulsory wearing of masks outdoors, an obligation followed by the majority of people who gathered on the Champs-Elysées then that the last hours of 2021 were passing.

In Berlin, police urged people not to congregate near the Brandenburg Gate, where a concert was held without an audience. In Madrid, authorities have allowed only 7,000 people to enter the downtown square of Puerta del Sol, a place traditionally hosting some 20,000 revelers.

In the United States, authorities have taken a mixed approach to the end-of-year celebrations: ban the audience from a countdown concert in Los Angeles, reduce them to New York while speeding to Las Vegas. , where 300,000 people were expected for a fireworks display on the Strip.

President Joe Biden noted the loss and uncertainty caused by the pandemic but said, “We persevere. We recover.

“Back to work. Back to school. Back to joy,” Biden said in a video posted to Twitter. “That’s how we’ve been doing this year. And how we’re going to embrace the next one. Together. “

In New York, authorities planned to allow just 15,000 people – vaccinated and masked – inside the perimeter around Times Square, a fragment of the million who usually flock to watch the famous bullet drop. Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, defending the event, said people need to see New York City is open for business.

Yet on Thursday, rapper LL Cool J quit telecasting New York City after testing positive for COVID-19 and restaurateurs who suffered staff shortages and omicron cancellations throughout the holiday season struggled to stay open.

“I’m really scared for our industry,” said New York restaurateur David Rabin, who has seen reservations and evening reservations disappear this month. “No one made any money in December. The fact that they are having a good night’s sleep has no impact.

Airlines also struggled at the end of the year, canceling thousands of flights after the virus hit flight crews and other staff and in bad weather.

The 2021 game-changing pandemic – vaccinations – has continued at a steady pace. Pakistan said it had fully vaccinated 70 million of its 220 million people this year and Britain said it had met its target of offering a vaccine booster to all adults by Friday .

In Russia, President Vladimir Poutine mourned the dead, praised the Russians for their strength in difficult times and soberly warned that the pandemic “is not receding yet”. Russia’s virus task force has reported 308,860 deaths from COVID-19, but its national statistics agency says the death toll has been more than double.

“I would like to express words of sincere support to all those who have lost loved ones,” Putin said in a televised speech broadcast just before midnight in each of Russia’s 11 time zones.

Elsewhere, the place many chose for New Year’s celebrations was the same place they became too familiar with during shutdowns: their homes.

Pope Francis has also canceled his New Year’s Eve tradition of visiting the full-size nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square, again to avoid a crowd. In an unusual gesture for Francis, the 85-year-old pontiff donned a surgical mask for a Vespers prayer and hymn service on Friday night as he sat in an armchair. But he also gave a standing and unmasked homily.

“A sense of being lost has developed around the world during the pandemic,” Francis told worshipers at St. Peter’s Basilica.

France, Great Britain, Portugal and Australia were among the countries that set new records for COVID-19 infections as 2021 gave way to 2022. Yet French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed his hope by delivering the last New Year’s speech of his current term.

“Maybe 2022 will be the year we come out of the epidemic – I want to believe it with you – the year we can see the release of that endless day,” Macron said, urging the unvaccinated to get the hang of it.

France’s unprecedented 232,200 new cases on Friday marked its third consecutive day above the 200,000 mark. The UK followed closely behind, with 189,846 new cases, also a record. In London, officials said up to 1 in 15 people had been infected with the virus in the week leading up to Christmas. Hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in the UK have increased 68% over the past week, to the highest levels since February.

Yet loud New Year’s celebrations kicked off in the Serbian capital of Belgrade where, unlike elsewhere in Europe, mass gatherings were allowed despite fears of the omicron variant. A medical expert has predicted that Serbia will experience thousands of new COVID-19 infections after the holidays.

At Expo 2020, the sprawling world fair outside of Dubai, 26-year-old tourist Lujain Orfi prepared to exercise caution on New Years Eve – her first time outside of Saudi Arabia , where she lives in the holy city of Medina.

“If you don’t party, life will pass you by,” she said. “I am in good health and have taken two doses (of the vaccine). We just have to take advantage.

Australia continued to celebrate despite reporting a record 32,000 new cases. Thousands of fireworks lit the sky over the Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House at midnight. Yet the crowds were much smaller than in the pre-pandemic years.

In Japan, writer Naoki Matsuzawa said he would spend the next few days cooking and delivering food to the elderly as some stores would be closed. He said the vaccinations had made people less anxious about the pandemic, despite the new variant.

“Numbness has set in and we’re not too scared anymore,” said Matsuzawa, who lives in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. “Some of us are starting to take it for granted that this won’t happen to me.”

South Korean authorities have closed many beaches and other tourist attractions along the eastern seaboard, which are usually teeming with people hoping to witness the first sunrise of the year.

In India, millions of people rang the bell at the start of the year from their homes, with nighttime curfews and other restrictions making celebrations in New Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities.

In mainland China, the Shanghai government has canceled an annual light show along the Huangpu River that typically draws hundreds of thousands of spectators. There was no plan for public festivities in Beijing, where popular temples have been closed or have limited access since mid-December.

In the Philippines, a powerful typhoon two weeks ago wiped out the basic necessities of tens of thousands before New Year’s Eve. More than 400 people were killed by Typhoon Rai and at least 82 are still missing.

Leahmer Singson, a 17-year-old mother, lost her home in a fire last month, then the typhoon swept away her temporary log cabin in Cebu City. She will welcome the New Year with her husband, who works in a glass and aluminum factory, and her 1-year-old baby in a dilapidated tent in a clearing where hundreds of other families have erected small tents from debris , sacks of rice and tarpaulins.

When asked what she wanted for the New Year, Singson made a simple wish: “Hope we don’t get sick.”

Perry reported from Wellington, New Zealand.

Associated Press reporters Daniel Cole in Marseille; Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow; Frances D’Emilio in Rome; Sylvia Hui in London; Darko Vojinovic in Belgrade, Serbia; Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo; Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea; Ashok Sharma in New Delhi; Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia; Hau Dinh in Hanoi, Vietnam; Zen Soo in Hong Kong; Tassanee Vejpongsa in Bangkok; Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines; Freida Frisaro in Miami; Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; and AP researcher Chen Si in Shanghai contributed to this report.