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Countries Juggle New Year's Celebrations With Ongoing Pandemic Concerns

By Elena Moore
Published December 31, 2020 at 4:46 PM EST

Updated at 8:47 p.m. ET

Much like the rest of 2020, New Year's celebrations look very different this year.

While large masses of people usually congregate in major cities around the world on New Year's Eve, many places are attempting to curb crowd sizes as the coronavirus continues to dominate public health concerns.

The clock has already struck midnight in a majority of the Eastern Hemisphere. Here's a look at how people are celebrating during the pandemic:

Sydney

Tokyo

Manila, Philippines

Hong Kong

A crowd walks through Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor, a spot usually dedicated to larger New Year's celebrations, including fireworks, which were canceled this time.
Kin Cheung / AP
/
AP
A crowd walks through Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor, a spot usually dedicated to larger New Year's celebrations, including fireworks, which were canceled this time.

Mumbai, India

Moscow

Cairo

Paris

Rome

Brussels

The Grand Place in downtown Brussels stands nearly deserted as residents remain under curfew.
Francisco Seco / AP
/
AP
The Grand Place in downtown Brussels stands nearly deserted as residents remain under curfew.

Ajdovščina, Slovenia

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Elena Moore
Elena Moore is a production assistant for the NPR Politics Podcast. She also fills in as a reporter for the NewsDesk. Moore previously worked as a production assistant for Morning Edition. During the 2020 presidential campaign, she worked for the Washington Desk as an editorial assistant, doing both research and reporting. Before coming to NPR, Moore worked at NBC News. She is a graduate of The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and is originally and proudly from Brooklyn, N.Y.
See stories by Elena Moore

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