Images from yesterday and today show the contrast of New Year’s Eve

There have been countdowns and live performances, but New Years celebrations around the world were drastically different this year as large crowds shied away from traditional party venues like Times Square in New York. York and the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

The coronavirus that changed so much in 2020 has led to cancellations of most fireworks and public events in favor of TV-only moments in cities around the world.

The Associated Press has captured yesterday and today images of some of these popular places around the world to illustrate the stark contrast between the crowded and jubilant crowds of previous years and the quiet, empty streets at the approaching 2021.

In South Korea, the Seoul city government canceled its annual New Year’s bell ceremony in the Jongno district for the first time since the event first took place in 1953, months after the end of the Korean War.

And in Tokyo, the Maiji Jingu Shinto Shrine, which traditionally attracts millions of people every year during the New Year’s holidays, closed on New Year’s Eve for the first time in 74 years.