除夕庆祝活动在世界上大多数地方都没有得到庆祝，许多人告别了他们希望忘记的一年。
从南太平洋到纽约，由于大范围的露天聚会而受到大流行的限制，人们转向早期为电视制作的烟花汇演或打包烟花，因为他们无法在有朋友或与世密的陌生人在场的情况下敬拜2020年底。
当午夜从亚洲席卷到中东，欧洲，非洲和美洲时，新年的经历反映了各国对该病毒本身的反应。一些国家和城市取消或缩减了庆祝活动，而其他一些国家和城市则没有像其他任何一年那样爆发疫情。
澳大利亚是最早到2021年响起来的国家之一。在过去的几年中，有100万人挤在悉尼的港口看烟花。这次，当当局敦促居民留在家中时，大多数人在电视上看电视，他们看到七分钟的烟火点燃了悉尼海港大桥及其周围的环境。
在纽约时代广场，球像往常一样掉落，但警察围栏将其除夕夜作为同义词，以防止各种规模的人群聚集。
尽管感染人数激增，阿拉伯联合酋长国的迪拜仍将继续狂欢，这是世界上最受欢迎的另一个地点，将于12月31日举行。蒙面的医护人员的图像短暂照亮了世界上最高的塔哈利法塔（Burj Khalifa），然后大楼上空的烟花在天上爆炸。成千上万的人被淹没在街道和广场上，这些街道被标为社会隔离的地方，在很大程度上被忽略了。
尽管如此，这一流行病仍剥夺了其随心所欲的夜晚。当局实施了一系列反病毒措施，以控制迪拜市中心的喧闹人群。在豪华的酒吧和餐馆里，虽然音乐响起，人们喝酒，但严格禁止跳舞。
拉斯维加斯的微光带动了类似的人群，尽管州长恳求避免聚会，但到傍晚仍有成千上万的人在拉斯维加斯大道上行走。
还敦促南非人取消政党。取而代之的是点燃许多蜡烛，以纪念在COVID-19大流行中丧生的卫生工作者和人们。
在许多欧洲国家，当局警告说，他们准备对违反公共卫生规则的狂欢者采取严厉措施，包括法国，意大利，土耳其，拉脱维亚，捷克共和国和希腊的宵禁。
希腊公共秩序部长Michalis Chrisohoidis表示：“晚上10点以后（雅典），没人上街将成为死城，以确保不再施加任何限制。”
法国政府向街头充斥着10万名执法人员，以实施全国性宵禁。
几个家庭聚集在马德里阳光明媚的中央太阳门广场，聆听午夜传统铃铛的排练。他们遵循西班牙的习俗，每次敲钟就吃掉12颗葡萄，然后警察清理了通常容纳数千名狂欢者的区域。
就是这样，生活还在继续。尽管发生了什么事我们还是要庆祝，”现年32岁的塞萨尔·普利多（Cesar Pulido）在马德里庆祝。“我们必须吃掉十二颗葡萄，才能问出十二个愿望，例如健康，爱情，金钱，一切和美好的共鸣。”
随着钟声敲响，午夜时分，莫斯科的红场和雅典卫城上空燃起了烟花，但由于人们服从命令待在家里，爆炸在空荡荡的街道上回荡。
从柏林到布鲁塞尔，大流行的庆祝活动通常变得喧闹无声。
甚至热衷于庆祝英国与欧盟的最终分裂的英国政府，都在广告中呼吁公众“在新的一年里安全地在家看新年”，而新近确认的案件数量也创下纪录。伦敦一年一度的除夕烟花汇演被取消，但在午夜之前播出了未经通知的汇演，向医护人员致敬，提到了黑人生活问题运动，甚至有声音说“你沉默了”虚拟工作会议的烦恼。
在苏格兰，居民通常以聚会和“立足点”来标记新的一年，这是房屋中年度的第一位来访者携带礼物的地方。该传统是政府警告的活动清单之一。
“没有聚会，没有家庭聚会，没有第一手的准备。取而代之的是，我们应该在2021年将我们自己的房屋带入我们自己的家庭中，”苏格兰第一大臣尼古拉·斯特金（Nicola Sturgeon）说。
世界上许多人充满希望地展望了2021年，部分原因是疫苗的出现提供了击败大流行的机会。
“虽然这是非常艰难的一年，虽然损失惨重，但我很高兴能安全，遵守规则，尽我所能，”现年33岁的玛丽拉菲尔（Marilia Rafael）在葡萄牙庆祝要求明年对我们所有人来说可能更好，也可能是充满希望，和平与爱的一年。”
自大流行开始以来，全世界有超过180万人死于冠状病毒。
一些领导人，例如德国总理安格拉·默克尔（Angela Merkel），在新年致辞中感谢公民在封锁期间的艰辛，并批评了那些违反规定的人。其他人，例如意大利总统塞尔吉奥·马塔雷拉（Sergio Mattarella），则悬挂科学旗帜，敦促公民放弃对接种COVID-19疫苗的担忧。
79岁的马塔雷拉说：“面对如此传染性极强的疾病，它造成了如此多的死亡，因此有必要保护自己的健康，并有责任保护他人的健康，包括家人，朋友，同事。”
在巴西的里约热内卢，为了限制病毒的迅速传播，官方的焰火和庆祝活动也被取消了，警察为这场漫长的夜晚作了准备。
里约官员决定封锁科帕卡巴纳（Copacabana），那里成千上万穿着白色衣服的人通常聚集在海滩上，欣赏烟花并参加大型音乐会。当局说，今年1月1日晚上8点至凌晨6点之间，只有当地居民才能进入这座城市的标志性海岸。
在韩国，首尔市政府自朝鲜战争结束数月后的1953年首次举行该活动以来，在钟路附近首次取消了除夕铃响大会。
距悉尼比悉尼早两个小时的新西兰和几个也没有活跃的COVID-19病例的南太平洋岛国邻居都在进行新年活动。
在中国社会，该病毒确保了对太阳新年的更多无声庆祝活动，而与2021年2月秋天的农历新年相比，这种庆祝活动的广泛性较差。就在一年前，有关中国城市武汉的一种使人迷惑的神秘呼吸系统疾病的初步报道就出现了。
New Year's revelries muted by virus as curtain draws on 2020
This New Year’s Eve is being celebrated like no other in most of the world, with many bidding farewell to a year they’d prefer to forget.
From the South Pacific to New York City, pandemic restrictions on open air gatherings saw people turning to made-for-TV fireworks displays or packing it in early since they could not toast the end of 2020 in the presence of friends or carousing strangers.
As midnight rolled from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Americas, the New Year’s experience mirrored national responses to the virus itself. Some countries and cities canceled or scaled back their festivities, while others without active outbreaks carried on like any other year.
Australia was among the first to ring in 2021. In past years, 1 million people crowded Sydney’s harbor to watch fireworks. This time, most watched on television as authorities urged residents to stay home to see the seven minutes of pyrotechnics that lit up the Sydney Harbor Bridge and its surroundings.
In New York's Times Square, the ball dropped like always, but police fenced off the site synonymous with New Year’s Eve to prevent crowds of any size from gathering.
Another of the world’s most popular places to be on December 31, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, pressed ahead with its revelry despite a surge of infections. Images of masked health care workers briefly lit up Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, before fireworks exploded in the sky over the building. Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets and squares marked out for social distancing were largely ignored.
Still, the pandemic robbed the night of its freewheeling spirit. Authorities implemented a raft of anti-virus measures to control rowdy crowds in downtown Dubai. At luxury bars and restaurants, music blared and people drank, but dancing was strictly prohibited.
The gleam of Las Vegas brought a similar crowd, with tens of thousands of people walking on the Strip by early evening despite a plea from the governor to avoid gatherings.
South Africans were also urged to cancel parties. Many instead lit candles as a way to honor health workers and people who have died in the COVID-19 pandemic.
In many European countries, authorities warned they were ready to clamp down on revelers breaching public health rules, including nightly curfews in France, Italy, Turkey, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Greece.
“No one will be on the streets after 10 p.m. (Athens) will be a dead city to make sure no more restrictions are imposed,” said Greece’s public order minister, Michalis Chrisohoidis.
France’s government flooded the streets with 100,000 law enforcement officers to enforce the nationwide curfew.
A few families gathered in Madrid’s sunny central Puerta de Sol square to listen to the rehearsal of the traditional ringing of the bells that is held at midnight. They followed the Spanish custom of eating 12 grapes with each stroke of the bells before police cleared the area that normally hosts thousands of revelers.
“That’s it, life goes on. Despite what happened we have to celebrate,” said Cesar Pulido, 32, who celebrated in Madrid. "We have to eat the 12 grapes in order to ask 12 wishes like health, love, money, everything and good vibes.”
As the clock struck midnight, fireworks erupted over Moscow’s Red Square and the Acropolis in Athens, but the explosions echoed across largely empty streets as people obeyed orders to stay home.
From Berlin to Brussels, normally raucous celebrations were muted by the pandemic.
Even the British government, keen to celebrate the U.K.’s definitive split from the EU, ran ads imploring the public to “see in the New Year safely at home” amid a record number of newly confirmed cases. London’s annual New Year's Eve fireworks display was canceled, but an unannounced display was broadcast before midnight, with tributes to health care workers, a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement and even a voice saying “you’re on mute” in reference to a bugbear of virtual work meetings.
In Scotland, residents normally mark the new year with parties and “first footing,” where a home’s first visitor of the year comes bearing gifts. The tradition is among the list of activities the government warned against.
“No gatherings, no house parties, no first-footing. Instead, we should bring in 2021 in our own homes with just our own households," Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.
Many around the world looked toward 2021 with hope, partly due to the arrival of vaccines that offer a chance of beating the pandemic.
“Although this was a very difficult year, a year of many losses, I'm grateful to be safe, to follow the rules, to do my part," said Marilia Rafael, 33, who celebrated in Portugal, "and would like to ask that the next year may be better for all of us, may it be a year of hope, peace and love.”
More than 1.8 million deaths worldwide have been linked to the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
Some leaders, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, used their New Year's address to thank citizens for enduring hardship during the lockdown and criticize those who defied the rules. Others, like Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella, flew the flag for science, urging citizens to discard their fears about getting immunized against COVID-19.
“Faced with an illness so highly contagious, which causes so many deaths, it’s necessary to protect one’s own health and it’s dutiful to protect those of the others – family members, friends, colleagues,’’’ said Mattarella, 79.
In Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, where official fireworks and celebrations also were canceled to limit the rapid spread of the virus, police officers braced for what promised to be a long night.
Rio officials decided to seal off Copacabana, where millions of people dressed in white usually gather on the beach to marvel at fireworks and attend large concerts. This year, between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Jan. 1, only local residents will be able to access the city’s iconic shore, authorities said.
In South Korea, Seoul’s city government canceled its annual New Year’s Eve bell-ringing ceremony in the Jongno neighborhood for the first time since the event was first held in 1953, months after the end of the Korean War.
New Zealand, which is two hours ahead of Sydney, and several of its South Pacific island neighbors that also have no active COVID-19 cases held their usual New Year’s activities.
In Chinese societies, the virus ensured more muted celebrations of the solar New Year, which is less widely observed than the Lunar New Year that in 2021 will fall in February. Initial reports about a mystery respiratory illness sickening people in the Chinese city of Wuhan emerged exactly a year ago.
