New Zealand has rung in 2021 with a spectacular fireworks display and light show in Auckland. Thousands gathered in the harbour foreshore to celebrate the New Year - with crowds free to mingle as the country enjoys an absence of coronavirus cases.

The nation, which has managed to do away with coronavirus after a strict 7-week lockdown, kicked off its new year’s celebrations with skycity fireworks and Vector lights on the Auckland Harbour Bridge. 

From Sydney to Rome, firework displays, pyre burnings and live performances will be watched online or on television. Last year millions of people flocked to watch fireworks at Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, but due to the virus growing daily in the country, authorities are advising revellers to watch on television this year. Melbourne, Australia’s second-most populous city, has cancelled its fireworks. Taiwan was hosting its usual New Year’s celebration, a fireworks display by its capital city’s iconic tower, Taipei 101, as well as a flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Office Building the next morning. The island has been a success story in the pandemic, registering only seven deaths and 700 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

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