New Zealand lets it down: Italians experience the New Year closed

Thursday 31 December 2020

New Zealand is experiencing an explosion
Italians experience the new year locked up

Italy remains silent on New Year’s Eve: the whole country considers the red zone. Citizens must celebrate alone at home, parties are prohibited. Anyone who lights a firecracker in Rome risks a fine of € 500. On the other hand, the New Zealanders let her split in: party without limits, tired of rockets and no fear of corona.

Italy is heading towards celebrating New Year’s Day: The entire country has been red again for several days since midnight with strong exit restrictions. Between 10 pm on New Years Eve and 7 am on New Year’s morning, 60 million citizens are barred from going out – with only a few exceptions. The government banned parties. A maximum of 2 adult guests from another home are allowed to sit at the table for New Years Eve dinner.

The capital, Rome, also issued a ban on fireworks at short notice on Wednesday evening, which takes effect until January 6. Anyone violating the explosion ban in Rome faces a fine of up to 500 euros, as ordered by Mayor Virginia Raggi. According to a survey, nearly every person in Italy reports to authorities about illegal New Year’s Eve parties by large groups in the neighborhood. The Coldiretti Agricultural Association published these figures from the Ixè Survey Institute on Wednesday. According to official information, more than two million people in Italy have been infected with the Coronavirus. On Wednesday, the authorities counted 16,200 new infections within 24 hours. The contagion situation has already been more violent, but the country’s government absolutely wants to prevent the third strong Corona wave.

Fighting the Pandemic Success: The Auckland Fireworks

It’s completely different at the other end of the world: New Zealand has already welcomed the New Year with a number of major music festivals and fireworks displays. Unlike distant Europe, the island country in the South Pacific has not recorded any local cases of Corona in more than a month. Therefore, events can happen without restrictions on the number of visitors or other restrictions related to Corona. In the largest city in the country, Auckland, there was a light show around the Harbor Bridge and Sky Tower, followed by a five-minute fireworks display at midnight. One of the biggest events on New Year’s Eve is the Rhythm and Vines Music Festival, which takes place near the town of Gisborne in the northeast of the North Island.

Thanks to early and strict measures, New Zealand is successful in combating the Coronavirus. Since the start of the epidemic, 2,162 cases have been confirmed in the island nation, and 25 people have died from the SARS pathogen. The latest domestic case of Corona was recorded in mid-November.