New York: Revelers will still ring in the new year in the New York Times Square next week, there will be no many of them as usual under new restrictions on Thursday when the city grappled with a surge in Covid-19 case.
The viewing area that usually accommodates around 58,000 people will be limited by around 15,000 to allow for further, and everyone who attended must show evidence of vaccination and wore a mask, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in the release of news that announced changes.
“There are many to celebrate and these additional safety steps will keep the crowd that is fully vaccinated and healthy when we rings in the new year,” De Blasio said, noting the success of the city in getting a temporary vaccinated population also keeping the business open.
Additional precautions for New Year’s Eve at Times Square are driven by the rapid spread of Omicron variants on the Apple Big Apple, where the path for testing has protected around the block in the last few days.
On Tuesday, the city set a one-day record with 17,200 new cases, although the true comparison with the number of cases during the initial surge of Covid-19 in the spring 2020 was impossible because the test was very limited at that time.
Because vaccination, hospitalization and death due to the current surge are far less than at the height of the pandemic.
The new wave of cases has caused the cancellation of concerts, sports events, and broadway shows, but De Blashio has shown a strong preference to have an annual drop ball drop, which ended January 1 more than a month ago, De Blasio happily announced that the crowd was fully vaccinated Hundreds of thousands of people will return to the iconic celebration – wearing Gufi 2022-themed glasses and watching a crystal drop ball.
At midnight – after being limited last year for small groups of important workers.
But that before Omicron caught fire, forcing city officials and the event organizers to rethink how many people wanted to squeeze into sunny tourists and shopping known by several world intersections.
On Tuesday, the FOX network gave its verdict, pulled the plug on planned live broadcasts from New Year’s Eve shows.
Other networks plan to air celebrations, including Dick Clark’s New Year Rockin ‘Eve in ABC, Stalwart is now organized by Ryan Seacrest.
De Blasio said along with the announcement Thursday that the city monitored the Covid-19 situation and could impose additional precautions if needed.
Among other changes announced Thursday, Revelers will not be allowed to see the view area of ​​up to 3 P.M, much slower than the last years.
On last year’s night last year, Times Square was largely empty, with Jennifer Lopez and another artist who appeared behind the police barricade.
After the vaccine is widely available at M.S., the city allows a crowd to return to FIREWORKS Fourth Macy, Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and other events.
“New York is the best place in the world to celebrate New Year’s Eve and now it will be one of the safest against Covid too,” said Mayor Eric Adams in a written statement that supports new precautions.
“New York and visitors now can now enjoy Times Square and our entire city when we rang in 2022.”