"Goodbye 2020" celebrations around the world

The New Year's Eve ball drops in a mostly empty Times Square on Jan. 1, 2021, in New York.

Women walk under an umbrella in front of a 2021 sign in downtown Pristina as Kosovars prepare to celebrate the New Year at home.

A guest at the Pullman Hotel Paris welcomes 2021 near the Eiffel Tower on New Year's Eve in Paris.

A reveler holds a  "2020 Bye" sign as a small number of people began celebrating New Year's Eve at the Sydney Harbor waterfront.

Australia was among the first nations to ring in 2021 because of its proximity to the International Date Line. It was a grim end to the year for New South Wales and Victoria, the country’s two most populous states, which are battling new Covid-19 outbreaks.

A couple embraces during a New Year's Day celebration in central Kyiv.

Revelers celebrate New Year's Eve in socially distanced pods at Times Square in New York.

Revelers cheer at Federation Square in Melbourne.

Melbourne, Australia’s second most populous city, canceled its fireworks this year. “For the first time in many, many years we made the big decision, difficult decision to cancel the fireworks,” Mayor Sally Capp said.

“We did that because we know that it attracts up to 450,000 people into the city for one moment at midnight to enjoy a spectacular display and music. We are not doing that this year.”

Times Square is empty during a virtual New Year's Eve event in New York.

Fireworks explode from the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, during New Year's Eve celebrations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

A Turkish woman poses for photographs on Taksim Square during the new year's celebrations in Istanbul on New Year's Eve.

The Sydney Harbor fireworks display is seen over a near-empty Sydney Opera House forecourt.

In past years 1 million people crowded the harbor to watch fireworks that center on the Sydney Harbor Bridge, but most watched on television as authorities urged residents to stay home.

A girl wears a mask and a "2021" head band at a mall as New Year countdown celebrations and crowded events were banned in Bangkok.

Visitors at a light show at Central World Department Store in downtown Bangkok.

People gather on Everton Brow to watch fireworks in Liverpool, England, on New Year's Eve.

Fireworks explode from the top of SkyTower in Auckland.

New Zealand, which is two hours ahead of Sydney, and several of its South Pacific island neighbors have no current Covid-19 cases, and New Year celebrations there were the same as ever.

People pose for pictures on the banks of Yangtze River in Wuhan.

In Chinese societies, the Lunar New Year celebration that falls in February in 2021 generally takes precedence over the solar New Year. While celebrations of the Western holiday have been growing more common in recent decades, this year will be more muted.

A couple kiss as they celebrate New Year's Eve along the Las Vegas Strip.

Children play with light sparklers in Caracas, Venezuela, on New Year's Eve.

People hold balloons as they gather to celebrate the arrival of the new year in Wuhan.

Fireworks explode over Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.

People offer prayers on the first day of the year at the Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo.

Much of Japan was welcoming 2021 quietly at home, alarmed after Tokyo reported a record number of daily coronavirus cases at about 1,300. It was the first time that daily cases in the capital have topped 1,000.

Revelers take part in New Year's Eve celebrations in Kyiv.

Fireworks explode over the ancient Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis hill during New Year's Day celebrations in Athens.

See the most powerful and inspiring images of 2020