Americans are again facing a stay-at-home New Year’s Eve as US political leaders and senior health advisers have urged people to scrap party plans and avoid larger public events as daily cases of Covid-19 break all previous records.
In New York, attendance at the Times Square celebration known as the Ball Drop an event which attracted over 60,000 people is now capped at 15, 000 with organizers encouraging revelers to watch it on TV or online.
The scaling back comes as the incoming New York mayor, Eric Adams cancelled his inauguration party.
Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio was in an end of two-terms party mood.
“Everyone come on down,” he said on 16th November. “We can finally get back together again. It’s going to be amazing.”
But recently, on the same day New York reported its highest number of new virus cases ever, de Blasio said the city would scale back its New Year’s event. Attendees must be fully vaccinated and wear masks.
The changes are meant to “keep the fully vaccinated crowd safe and healthy as we ring in the New Year”, the mayor said in a statement.
In Chicago, the Illinois governor, Jay Pritzker, has not yet imposed restrictions or shut down the city’s traditional fireworks show. But he warned Chicagoan this week that “Omicron and Delta are coming to your party”.
San Francisco has cancelled its fireworks show over the Bay for the second year in a row. Mayor London Breed told residents that “we must remain vigilant in doing all we can to stop the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant”.
Atlanta, too, has cancelled its Peach Drop where for 30 years, revelers have gathered to watch a glitter fake peach descend to the ground.
The Atlanta mayor later issued a press release, announcing the decision
The WHO director, General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged earlier this month for people to approach the holidays cautiously, even if that meant cancelling or delaying a shindig. “An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled,” Tedros told reporters. “It’s better to cancel now and celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later.”
Source: The Guardian
