New Zealand has welcomed the year 2021 and bid 2020 good-bye with a spectacular fireworks display and light show in Auckland. The south Pacific island nation Samoa was the first to mark the new year at 10am GMT, followed by New Zealand at 11am GMT. The nation, which has managed to eliminate coronavirus after a strict seven-week lockdown, kicked off its new years celebrations with skycity fireworks and Vector lights on the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Several cities in New Zealand are hosting firework displays with only limited restrictions.
From Sydney to Rome, firework displays, pyre burnings and live performances will be watched online or on television. Last year millions of people flocked to watch fireworks at Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, but due to the virus growing daily in the country, authorities are advising revellers to watch on television this year. Melbourne, Australia’s second-most populous city, has cancelled its fireworks. Taiwan was hosting its usual New Year’s celebration, a fireworks display by its capital city’s iconic tower, Taipei 101, as well as a flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Office Building the next morning. The island has been a success story in the pandemic, registering only seven deaths and 700 confirmed cases of Covid-19.