(Omicron made its debut in South Africa about one month before it showed up in the United States. That, along with yesterday's news (below) suggests the disease has a 45-day debut-to-crest. It should be in decline in the states that first reported it (New York and California) around January 31st. Nationwide? By February 15th, hopefully leaving widespread immunity in its wake. - De)
December 31, 2021
South Africa says Omicron wave has crested and lets loose the New Year revellers
Canada’s major cities, for their part, are set to ring in the New Year with more of a gentle chime than a resounding clang
by Renju Jose and Sisipho Skweyiya
NationalPost.com
Twenty twenty-one was slinking off with farewell celebrations mostly muffled by the pandemic. But good news from South Africa — the first country to pronounce itself past its Omicron wave — brought hope for a joyous New Year.
The New Year began its annual roll from East to West quietly — with no official firework display in Auckland, New Zealand.
Australia was promising to open the global celebration in vintage style, with its usual spectacular pyrotechnics reflected in the harbor below the Sydney Opera House. But there would be no displays above many of the world’s traditional landmarks, with fireworks called off over Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, London’s Big Ben and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
The golden ball was due to drop at New York’s Times Square, but the crowd shouting out the countdown of the year’s exit would be a quarter the usual size, masked up, socially distanced and with vaccine papers in hand.
Still, South Africa, which first raised the alarm about the new fast-spreading coronavirus variant, gave the world one of the last big good surprises of the year, announcing that the Omicron wave had crested without a huge surge in deaths. It abruptly lifted a night time curfew, allowing celebrations to ring in 2022.
“I’m pretty sure it’s going to be amazing. I’m just hoping that Cape Town goes back to the old Cape Town that we all knew about,” said Michael Mchede, manager of a Hard Rock cafe by the white sands of Cape Town’s Camps Bay Beach, thrilled to find himself getting the place ready to host an unexpected bash.
“I’m excited that you don’t have to go back to the hotel. You can roam around on the beautiful beach over here, and let’s see if it brings a party!” said tourist Jochem Verbunt, who said his hope for 2022 was “that corona will be gone.”
Canada’s major cities, for their part, are set to ring in the New Year with more of a gentle chime than a resounding clang, with many official celebrations cancelled or moved online for the second year in a row due to COVID-19.
Across the country, residents are being encouraged to tune in to livestreams for fireworks displays and performances or trade parties for outdoor activities.
New Year’s Eve is coinciding with a wave of record-setting daily COVID-19 cases driven by the fast-moving Omicron variant.
Canada’s largest city is trading its tradition of crowding Nathan Phillips Square for an online event. The livestream will feature pre-recorded performances from iconic Toronto music venues and other locations leading up to fireworks.
The neighbouring City of Mississauga is going even further with its safety precautions, cancelling all organized events at Celebration Square for the evening, including fireworks.
In British Columbia, a provincial health order prohibits all organized New Year’s Eve parties, while limiting personal gatherings to a household plus 10 visitors or one other household. Everyone 12 and up must be vaccinated to gather indoors.Even before the new rules were announced, the Vancouver New Year’s Eve Celebration Society postponed the Concord fireworks display until next year.
Calgary is going forward with a fireworks display over the Calgary Tower set to a synchronized music soundtrack broadcast by radio.
Quebec is marking New Year’s Eve with a new nighttime curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., which will continue for an indefinite period of time. And there will be no celebration at the Old Port of Montreal, nor fireworks.
HORRENDOUSLY BAD
The sudden arrival of Omicron has brought record-setting case counts to countries around the world. Although deaths have not risen as fast, leaving hope the new variant is milder, many countries have reimposed restrictions to prevent healthcare systems from being overwhelmed. Even where gatherings are permitted, many people have chosen to stay home.
At Le Querida, a restaurant serving grilled octopus and stuffed peppers in Madrid’s Pozuelo neighborhood, just four tables out of two dozen were booked for New Year’s Eve. The place had been nearly packed nightly just a few weeks ago before Omicron wiped out business, said head waiter Juan Lozano.
“We all thought… we’d be able to make some money and pay off many things that are overdue,” he said. “The outlook is horrendously bad.”
Regional president Isabel Diaz Ayuso has promised New Year’s Eve celebrations at 60% capacity: “If Madrid is not free, it is not Madrid,” she declared. Revelers will see in the New Year eating 12 grapes in time with the chimes of the bells in the old post office building. Around 1,500 people turned out for a dress rehearsal the night before.
“It’s a time to be together, to mark a new year and feel that excitement when the bells ring, share chocolates and sweets,” said Wendy Garcia, who brought her seven-year-old son to the dry run to avoid the big crowd at the main event.
New York’s celebration, with just 15,000 spectators instead of the usual 55,000 or so, will still be a big improvement on last year, when just a few dozen people received invitations to Times Square. Los Angeles called off its countdown party in Grand Park. Rapper LL Cool J had to step down as a headliner on ABC’s New Year’s Eve telecast after testing positive.
At a Party City shop in Texas, Dana Fenner’s hands were full of hats and horns for a low-key party she was planning at home with her husband and three kids.
“Normalcy. I want everything to get back to normal,” she said.
Global corovirus infections hit a record high over the past seven-day period, with an average of just over a million cases detected a day worldwide between Dec. 24 and 30, some 100,000 up on the previous peak posted on Wednesday, according to Reuters data.
Still, in Sydney queues were forming in the morning at the best vantage points to watch the fireworks over the harbor, an annual staple of television broadcasts around the world as one of the first big cities in the world to welcome each new year.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Australians to enjoy the evening. Dominic Perrottet, premier of New South Wales state which includes Sydney, said he took heart because hospitals were coping with Omicron: “Our position remains incredibly strong,” he told reporters.
Elsewhere in Asia, celebrations were mostly scaled down or called off. In South Korea, a traditional midnight bell-ringing ceremony was canceled for the second year and authorities announced an extension of stricter distancing rules for two weeks to tackle a persistent surge in infections.
Celebrations were banned in Tokyo’s glittering Shibuya entertainment district, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida took to YouTube to urge people to wear masks and limit numbers at parties.
China, where the coronavirus first emerged in late 2019, was on high alert, with the city of Xian under lockdown and New Year events in other cities canceled.
Authorities in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, planned to close 11 roads that usually draw big crowds for New Year. Malaysia banned big gatherings nationwide and canceled the annual Petronas Twin Towers fireworks display.
Secretive North Korea promised midnight fireworks at Kim Il Sung Square in its capital, Pyongyang.
http://nationalpost.com/news/world/omicron-crashes-global-new-year-party-but-south-africa-offers-hope-2
Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months
| 