Photos: New Year's Eve revelries muted by COVID-19 pandemic

A combo image showing a general view of the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris very early on New Year's Day Friday, Jan. 1, 2021, and the bottom one the same location packed with revelers early on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2020.

This combo image shows Colle Oppio hill overlooking Rome's Colosseum, a popular spot for New Year's Eve celebrations, as seen in the first minutes of Friday, Jan. 1, 2021, top photo, and Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2018, bottom photo.

A combo of images that shows an empty historic center in Brussels on Thursday Dec. 31, 2020 and the same location full of revelers celebrating the New Year early on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.

This combo image shows Hotel Indonesia Roundabout in Jakarta, a popular spot for New Year's Eve celebration, taken on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, top photo, and Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016, bottom photo.

This combo image shows the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout in Jakarta, a popular spot for New Year's Eve celebration, taken on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, top photo, and Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019, bottom photo.

A combo image showing Bosingak pavilion where the place for the annual New Year's Eve bell-ringing ceremony, the top photo taken on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020 and the bottom one on Friday, Jan. 1, 2018. In South Korea, Seoul's city government canceled its annual New Year's Eve bell-ringing ceremony in the Jongno neighborhood for the first time since the event was first held in 1953, months after the end of the Korean War. The ceremony, in which citizens ring a large bell in a traditional pavilion when the clock strikes midnight, normally draws an estimated 100,000 people and is broadcast live.

This combination photograph shows a handful of people in front of the iconic Gateway of India, top, a popular place to celebrate New Year's Eve in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, as compared to a file photograph of a crowd celebrating on Dec. 31, 2019.

A combo image showing a general view of the Victoria Harbor at the New Year's Eve of year 2021 in Hong Kong, the top photo taken on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, and the bottom one on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019, fireworks explode over the Victoria Harbor during New Year's Eve to celebrate the start of year 2019 in Hong Kong.

This combo image shows at top, police direct visitors around Shibuya crossing, a popular location for New Year's Eve gathering, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, in Tokyo, and below, people gather to welcome the arrival of the New Year at the crossing in Tokyo Jan. 1, 2020. Tokyo's downtown Shibuya district has canceled its annual countdown event at a popular "scramble Intersection" area outside of its main train station, and a "countdown vision" screen will be turned off at 11 p.m.

This combination image shows at top, a group of visitors take selfies in front of Maiji Jingu Shinto Shrine Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, in Tokyo, after learning that the shrine which attracts millions of people every year during New Year holidays and is usually open all night on New Year's Eve was closed its doors at 4 p.m. on Dec. 31 this year, and below, a Jan. 1, 2020 file photo showing people celebrating the arrival of the year 2020 while waiting for their turn to offer prayers at the Shinto shrine in Tokyo. This was the first time the popular shrine closed its door on New Year's Eve night in 74 years.

This combo image shows at top fireworks exploding over the Kremlin and the Spasskaya Tower with St. Basil's Cathedral at left in an almost empty Red Square during New Year's celebrations in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020 and below, a file photo taken from the same angle during New Year's celebrations on Dec. 31, 2019.