The world celebrated the arrival of the year 2022 with festivities restricted by the covid-19, entering a third year of pandemic with an explosion of infections and timid signs of hope.
The appearance of the particularly contagious omicron variant in November led to more than one million daily coronavirus infections for the first time, according to an AFP count. Officially, more than 5.4 million people have died since the virus was first identified in China in December 2019.
Great Britain, the United States and even Australia, long protected from the pandemic, they are breaking daily case records.
The Kiribati islands, in the Pacific, were the first to welcome the new year.
In India, 2022 came with tragedy: at least 12 people died and 13 were injured in a stampede at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, one of the most revered Hindu sites in northern India, on Saturday morning.
– Papal call to peace –
Pope Francis on Saturday urged the world to “roll up its sleeves” andn favor of peace, in your New Year’s message.
On the occasion of the 55th World Day of Peace, The leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics dedicated his Angelus address to encouraging an end to violence and told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square to keep peace in their thoughts.
“Let’s go home thinking: peace, peace, peace! We need peace,” he said.
– Parties canceled –
From Seoul to Mexico City to San Francisco, many festivities were canceled as of 2021, or severely restricted.
In Paris, where the traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks show was canceled, Thousands of people, much less than before the pandemic, walked through the Champs Elysees, where the police controlled the use of masks, again required.
In the heart of Madrid, the traditional festival in front of Puerta del Sol brought together some 7,000 people to swallow grapes to the sound of twelve chimes at midnight.
– “It’s quiet, I like it” –
In Sydney, a city that boasts of being the “New Year’s Capital of the World,” crowds were unusually small at the harbor to witness the traditional fireworks display.
“I just try to focus on the positives that happened this year instead of the negatives, “said Melinda Howard, a 22-year-old medical student.
In Brazil, the second country most affected by the coronavirus after the United Statess, Rio de Janeiro returned to Copacabana beach to receive 2022 although with less public due to bad weather and restrictions due to the pandemic.
“I was expecting to see a lot more people, it would be stressful,” Alejandra Luna, a 28-year-old Colombian tourist, told AFP. “It’s calm, I like it,” he added.
Dressed in yellow to attract prosperity, Andreia Viana, from Rio de Janeiro he observed the 16 minutes of fireworks and commented to AFP: “It was exciting, because we spent a lot of time in a pandemic and now that the fires have returned, they seem more beautiful, they are more significant,” he stressed.
In South Africa, where the new variant was detected at the end of November, the night curfew that has been in force for 21 months was interrupted for four hours from midnight.
– Our dream –
New York prepared to ring in the New Year in Times Square, with the famous ball drop and flying papers, albeit in reduced form due to the pandemic.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the party could be done, but only with about 15,000 people in Times Square, instead of the usual 60,000, and all had to be vaccinated and wearing masks.
“This is our dream. It’s on our to-see list, the fall of the New Years sphere, and we have been vaccinated for this, “explained Chroni Stokes, 27, who came with his partner to New York from Memphis, Tennessee.
US President Joe Biden on Friday urged unity in the New Year in a video message in which he greeted “extraordinary” Americans.
New Year in Iraq / Photo: AFP
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin mentioned in a televised message to the covid epidemic without citing the figure of more than 600,000 deaths established the previous day by the national statistical agency – double that reported by the government – which places the country among the most mourning in the world.
For his part, in France, President Emmanuel Macron issued a year-end message in which he declared himself “resolutely optimistic” and expressed his wish that 2022 also be “the year of the end of the epidemic.”
Experts hope that the year 2022 will mark a new, less deadly phase of the pandemic.
But nevertheless, the World Health Organization (WHO) does not want to lower its guard and warns that the “tsunami” of infections could put health systems “on the brink of collapse.”
The world celebrated the arrival of the year 2022 with festivities restricted by the covid-19, entering a third year of pandemic with an explosion of infections and timid signs of hope.
The appearance of the particularly contagious omicron variant in November led to more than one million daily coronavirus infections for the first time, according to an AFP count. Officially, more than 5.4 million people have died since the virus was first identified in China in December 2019.
Great Britain, the United States and even Australia, long protected from the pandemic, they are breaking daily case records.
The Kiribati islands, in the Pacific, were the first to welcome the new year.
In India, 2022 came with tragedy: at least 12 people died and 13 were injured in a stampede at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, one of the most revered Hindu sites in northern India, on Saturday morning.
– Papal call to peace –
Pope Francis on Saturday urged the world to “roll up its sleeves” andn favor of peace, in your New Year’s message.
On the occasion of the 55th World Day of Peace, The leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics dedicated his Angelus address to encouraging an end to violence and told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square to keep peace in their thoughts.
“Let’s go home thinking: peace, peace, peace! We need peace,” he said.
– Parties canceled –
From Seoul to Mexico City to San Francisco, many festivities were canceled as of 2021, or severely restricted.
In Paris, where the traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks show was canceled, Thousands of people, much less than before the pandemic, walked through the Champs Elysees, where the police controlled the use of masks, again required.
In the heart of Madrid, the traditional festival in front of Puerta del Sol brought together some 7,000 people to swallow grapes to the sound of twelve chimes at midnight.
– “It’s quiet, I like it” –
In Sydney, a city that boasts of being the “New Year’s Capital of the World,” crowds were unusually small at the harbor to witness the traditional fireworks display.
“I just try to focus on the positives that happened this year instead of the negatives, “said Melinda Howard, a 22-year-old medical student.
In Brazil, the second country most affected by the coronavirus after the United Statess, Rio de Janeiro returned to Copacabana beach to receive 2022 although with less public due to bad weather and restrictions due to the pandemic.
“I was expecting to see a lot more people, it would be stressful,” Alejandra Luna, a 28-year-old Colombian tourist, told AFP. “It’s calm, I like it,” he added.
Dressed in yellow to attract prosperity, Andreia Viana, from Rio de Janeiro he observed the 16 minutes of fireworks and commented to AFP: “It was exciting, because we spent a lot of time in a pandemic and now that the fires have returned, they seem more beautiful, they are more significant,” he stressed.
In South Africa, where the new variant was detected at the end of November, the night curfew that has been in force for 21 months was interrupted for four hours from midnight.
– Our dream –
New York prepared to ring in the New Year in Times Square, with the famous ball drop and flying papers, albeit in reduced form due to the pandemic.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the party could be done, but only with about 15,000 people in Times Square, instead of the usual 60,000, and all had to be vaccinated and wearing masks.
“This is our dream. It’s on our to-see list, the fall of the New Years sphere, and we have been vaccinated for this, “explained Chroni Stokes, 27, who came with his partner to New York from Memphis, Tennessee.
US President Joe Biden on Friday urged unity in the New Year in a video message in which he greeted “extraordinary” Americans.
New Year in Iraq / Photo: AFP
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin mentioned in a televised message to the covid epidemic without citing the figure of more than 600,000 deaths established the previous day by the national statistical agency – double that reported by the government – which places the country among the most mourning in the world.
For his part, in France, President Emmanuel Macron issued a year-end message in which he declared himself “resolutely optimistic” and expressed his wish that 2022 also be “the year of the end of the epidemic.”
Experts hope that the year 2022 will mark a new, less deadly phase of the pandemic.
But nevertheless, the World Health Organization (WHO) does not want to lower its guard and warns that the “tsunami” of infections could put health systems “on the brink of collapse.”
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