Sydney celebrates with fireworks – but without spectators
With a great Fireworks on the famous Harbor Bridge and the Opera House have welcomed the New Year in Sydney. It was midnight there at 2 p.m. German time. This time, spectators were not allowed at the port due to the corona pandemic. The authorities had previously announced that they would punish anyone who tried to break the barriers to the port area with a fine of 1000 Australian dollars (about 626 euros). This apparently worked: Sydney was like a ghost town the nearer the turn of the year approached, observers said.
The world-famous fireworks display – one of the first in the world – was broadcast live on television. But it was smaller and, with a duration of seven minutes, much shorter than usual. Normally the spectacle in the port of the Australian metropolis draws every year more than a million people an.
The Prime Minister of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, spoke of an inconsistent situation on Thursday with a view to the corona pandemic. She urged the people of Sydney to Staying home and watching the fireworks on TV with the rest of the world.
A corona outbreak in the northern beach area of Sydney is on within two weeks more than 150 infected people grown. The 250,000 people who live on the northern beaches are under strict lockdownto be re-evaluated on Monday. A second cluster occurred Tuesday with a family in a western suburb and includes nine cases. The situation in Sydney caused other Australian states to close their borders again to people from New South Wales on Thursday. (dpa)