'I will survive': 2020 slinks as fireworks light abandoned streets into history

(Reuters) -Fireworks exploded into the sky above the Sydney Opera House, but a desolate ghost town was the harbour below, a fittingly eerie send-off that would not be missed for a year.

Beijing was not illuminated from the top of the TV tower by any light display. In Rome, St. Peter's was almost vacant for Vespers. Trafalgar Square in London, Red Square in Moscow, Puerta del Sol in Madrid and Times Square in New York were all barricaded.

Although fireworks were fired over empty streets in some cities, others, such as London and Singapore, called off their displays. Under the curfew were Paris, Rome and Istanbul.

On Broadway, New York's countdown ball was scheduled to drop. But the crowd will be a few hundred pre-selected main staff - including nurses, doctors, a grocery store worker and a pizza delivery man - in lieu of thousands of people jammed shoulder-to-shoulder in Times Square, their families held six feet (2 meters) apart in socially distant pens.

Gloria Gaynor was booked by organizers to sing her disco classic 'I Will Live.' (Lyrics: "You think I'm going to crumble? Do you think I'm going to lie down and die? Oh no, not me!")

"Actually, it's going to be, arguably, the most special, the most poignant, the most moving New Year's Eve," Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters, pressing the button to begin the crystal ball plunge. "We will be showing people in 2021 what it looks like to recover, to come back."

The year ended unlike any other in memory, with more than 1.7 million people dead and 82 million infected across the globe since last New Year's Eve - but there is hope that new vaccinations will help tame the pandemic.

Angela Merkel said the same thing in her 16th New Year's Eve address as German Chancellor: "I think I'm not exaggerating when I say: we've never found that old year so heavy in the last 15 years." And never have we looked forward to the new one with so much optimism, considering all the worries and some scepticism.

"President Xi Jinping of China said the extraordinary hardship of the year allowed people to demonstrate their resilience: "Courage and perseverance can only be manifested in difficult times. A piece of jade can be finer only after polishing.

Huge crowds took to the streets in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic started a year ago, including a group of hundreds who marched in front of the old Hankow Customs House building. All of them cheered and released balloons into the air as their old clock struck at midnight.

'I am so extremely happy,' said Yang Wenxuan, a 20-year-old student and tourist. "I hope I can get my bachelor's degree (in 2021) and I hope I can find a boyfriend."

A strong police presence and tight supervision of the crowd were present, but the countdown seemed to continue in a comfortable atmosphere.

Gatherings were prohibited and internal borders closed in Australia, where Sydney's fireworks annually serve as the world's first major visual show of the new year. The majority of people were banned from downtown the area.

Gladys Berejiklian, premier of the New South Wales state, which includes Sydney, said, "What a hell of a year it was." "Hopefully, 2021 is going to be easier for us all."

The virus has not prevented North Korea from celebrating in Pyongyang. State television showed revellers in face masks for a concert and fireworks filling the main square.

But at Puerta del Sol in Madrid, where Spaniards usually count down to midnight by stuffing grapes into their mouths every time they strike clockwise, the police put up barriers to keep people out. A 61-year-old retiree, Jose Angel Balsa, said he was going to spend the evening "with family, just the four of us at home, holding lots of video calls and hoping to end this as soon as possible."

In Britain, official billboards warn the public to "see safely at home in the New Year," under ever tighter constraints to tackle a new, more infectious version of the virus.

Bars and restaurants in Italy were closed, and a 10 p.m. curfew was enforced.

The rules prohibited the annual assembly at St Peter's Basilica of thousands of Roman Catholic worshippers for New Year's Eve Vespers. Because of a flare-up of his sciatica, Pope Francis cancelled plans to lead the service, the Vatican said, and a cardinal read the pope's sermon at a secondary altar to a small congregation.

Boss Brice Tapon sent customers home with packages of foie gras, truffles and pate for groups of two or three at 'A la Ville de Rodez', an upmarket delicatessen in Paris. The rules prohibit more than six adults from sitting around the table for dinner.

One client, Anne Chaplin, said that she was going to "stuff myself with foie gras, champagne, and all that food."