Omicron’s New Year’s cocktail around the world: Sorrow, fear, hope for 2022

New Year’s Eve, which used to be celebrated globally with a free-spirited wildness, felt instead like a case of deja vu, with the fast-spreading omicron variant again filling hospitals.

In Paris, officials canceled the fireworks amid surging infections and reintroduced mandatory mask-wearing outdoors, an obligation followed by the majority of people who milled about on the Champs-Elysées as the final hours of 2021 ticked away. “Back to work. Back to school. Back to joy,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter. “That’s how we made it through this year. And how we’ll embrace the next. Together.” — vaccinated and masked — inside the perimeter around Times Square, a sliver of the 1 million that typically squeeze in to watch the famed ball drop. Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, defending the event, said people need to see that New York is open for business.

[Don't miss] A food critic’s 12 best bites of 2021 from Chicago restaurants, from deep-dish pizza to caviar-topped ice cream“I would like to express words of sincere support to all those who lost their dear ones,” Putin said in a televised address broadcast just before midnight in each of Russia’s 11 time zones.

France, Britain, Portugal and Australia were among countries that set new records for COVID-19 infections as 2021 gave way to 2022. In Brazil, Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach welcomed a small crowd of a few thousand for 16 minutes of fireworks. Rio’s New Year’s bash usually brings more than 2 million people to Copacabana beach. In 2020 there was no celebration due to the pandemic. This year there was music on loudspeakers, but no live concerts like in previous editions.

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Omicron's New Year's cocktail: Sorrow, fear, hope for 2022 | AP NewsMore like Groundhog Day: New Year's Eve used to be celebrated globally with a free-spirited wildness. Now it's got the uneasy feel of a case of deja vu, with virus cases on the rise again and the fast-spreading omicron variant filling hospitals. Folks, get your perceptions of reality from outside in your own environment. There is a flurry of activity outside my house, people setting off fireworks and hanging out on porches to enjoy the holiday. Enjoy the New Year. The pandemic steams on AP reports that AP keeps reporting the same stories ad nauseum forever.. get some journalists already
Source: AP - 🏆 728. / 51 Read more »

New Year, New Additions: A Big Batch of New Restaurant Openings Await Cleveland in 2022After a disastrous 2020, the Cleveland restaurant scene bounced back in a big way this past year. Local diners (and drinkers) were treated to high-profile... 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
Source: ClevelandScene - 🏆 383. / 55 Read more »

Photos: New Year’s Eve celebrations welcome 2022 around the worldThe world says goodbye to 2021, a year where the pandemic still lingered impacting all aspects of life, and hello to 2022 with hopes of an end to the spread of coronavirus.
Source: mercnews - 🏆 88. / 68 Read more »

Pictures of the World Ushering in 2022, as Omicron Weighs on New Year CelebrationsFrom Sydney to Shanghai to New York and Paris, the world ushered in 2022 with New Year celebrations that were largely overshadowed by pandemic concerns. Of course you had to add a buzzkill to the headline
Source: NBCDFW - 🏆 288. / 63 Read more »

Happy New Year 2022: Chicago saw stories of hope amid challenges with COVID-19Happy New Year 2022! Chicago saw stories of hope amid challenges with daily COVID cases and an omicron surge in 2021.
Source: ABC7Chicago - 🏆 284. / 63 Read more »

Watch Live: Ring in the new year with NBC 5′s ‘Lone Star NYE: Countdown to 2022′The local New Year’s Eve program airs Dec. 31, 2021, from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. CST, and is hosted by NBC 5’s Katy Blakey and KARK’s D.J. Williams from...
Source: dallasnews - 🏆 18. / 71 Read more »