A light show was held on New Year’s Eve at the Bund, along the Huangpu River in east China’s Shanghai. Since 2016, fireworks have been banned inside Shanghai’s Inner Ring Road, and light shows have been a substitution. The show ran every half hour from 6:30 pm till the midnight of December 31, 2020. /CFP

The “Willkommen 2021” New Year’s Eve Live Show, Berlin’s annual official New Year’s Eve festival, was held at the Brandenburg Gate on December 31, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unlike the previous years when there were thousands of audiences gathering for performance and fireworks display, the show was broadcast on the ZDF television network as the second lockdown is underway. /Getty Image

As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, France is still under tight restrictions even on New Year’s Eve. People in Paris enjoyed the evening with their friends and families in front of the Hotel de Ville, and they had to go home before 8 pm. Since October 15, the city has imposed a curfew from 8 pm to 6 am, and those who violate the curfew will be fined 135 euros for a first offense and 1500 euros if the offense repeated. /Getty Image

Australians celebrated the arrival of 2021 with a seven-minute firework display over the Sydney Opera House on January 1, 2021, which was broadcast live on the ABC. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the public were encouraged to celebrate the New Year’s Eve at home. /Getty Image

Puerta del Sol Square was closed to the public from 10 pm, December 31, 2020, to avoid gatherings. All New Year's Eve celebrations were suspended at Puerta del Sol Square, for the first time in history, as the Community of Madrid has forbidden all the celebrations in public squares or streets across the region during the pandemic, but the nighttime curfew was extended from 11 pm to 1:30 am. /Getty Image

Athens celebrated the New Year’s Eve with a firework display over the Ancient Acropolis on December 31, 2020. Greece is also under lockdown with a curfew from 9 pm to 5 am. By December 29, its COVID-19 cases have totaled 133,000 with 4,402 deaths. /Getty Image