Photos: The world rings in 2021 amid Covid-19 restrictions

This New Year’s Eve was celebrated like no other in most of the world, with many bidding farewell to a year they’d prefer to forget. From the South Pacific to New York City, pandemic restrictions on open air gatherings saw people turning to made-for-TV fireworks displays or packing it in early since they could not toast the end of 2020 in the presence of friends or joyous strangers. As midnight rolled from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Americas, the New Year’s experience mirrored national responses to the virus itself. Some countries and cities canceled or scaled back their festivities, while others without active outbreaks carried on like any other year.