New Year’s revelry around the world muted by pandemic as curtain draws on 2020 Author: Frank Jordans, Derek Gatopoulos, Associated Press Updated: December 31, 2020 Published December 31, 2020 Share on Facebook Print article This New Year’s Eve is being celebrated like no other in most of the world, with many bidding farewell to a year they’d prefer to forget. From the South Pacific to New York City, pandemic restrictions on open air gatherings saw people turning to made-for-TV fireworks displays or packing it in early since they could not toast the end of 2020 in the presence of friends or carousing strangers.