The first country to receive the new year 2021
New Zealand welcomed the New Year 2021 as the first country of the year, by firing fireworks from the "Sky Tower" in the capital, Auckland.
Today, Thursday, New Zealand witnessed a number of large music festivals and fireworks displays to celebrate the New Year, unlike many countries facing strict restrictions due to the Corona virus pandemic.
With no cases of Corona in the New Zealand community, events are proceeding as planned with no crowd boundaries or other health restrictions.
One of the biggest New Years Eve events, a music festival, was held near Gisborne and lasted for three days.
The 20,000 celebrants were surprised when Dr Ashley Bloomfield, director-general of health, who had been monitoring the situation daily in front of the nation during the COVID-19 lockdown - the country had seen, appeared on the big screen with excerpts of safety messages.
The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, announced in October that the restrictions that were imposed in Auckland were lifted to confront a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, stressing that her country had overcome the virus "again."
According to the World Meter website, which monitors the developments of the Corona pandemic, the total number of corona cases in New Zealand is 2,162, while the total deaths are only 25 cases.