Virus will keep New Year’s crowds away from Times Square; celebrations muted around world
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police turned to familiar tactics ahead of Thursday’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, deploying bomb-sniffing dogs and sand-filled sanitation trucks intended to guard against explosions.
But the department’s playbook this year includes an unusual mandate: preventing crowds of any size from gathering in Times Square.
Citing concerns over the spread of COVID-19, police closed the Crossroads of the World to vehicles and pedestrians at midnight and said they would disperse any onlookers venturing into a so-called “frozen zone” — the blocks surrounding the ball that historically draw shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.
The coronavirus has upended public life for months, and New Year’s Eve will be no different. This year, police said, revelers headed to Times Square won’t be permitted past police lines.
Here’s an update on all developments. Scroll or swipe further for in-depth coverage.
- President-elect Joe Biden is planning a lighting ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to honor those killed by the coronavirus the day before he is sworn into office on Jan. 20.
- The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell by 19,000 but remain elevated at 787,000 as a resurgent coronavirus grips the U.S. economy.
- As 2020 nears its end, the US still is setting one-day records for Covid-19 deaths and the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals. More than 3,740 coronavirus deaths were reported Wednesday in the US, the most reported in a single day during the pandemic and the second straight day that record was set, Johns Hopkins University data show.
- A mutant variant of the coronavirus that appears to be more contagious has been found in Southern California, where the state’s most populous county recorded more than 10,000 deaths and authorities warned they will be patrolling streets to shut down large New Year’s Eve gatherings that could spread the infection.
- China authorized its first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine for general use Thursday, adding another shot that could see wide use in poorer countries as the virus surges back around the globe.
- Florida Congresswoman-elect María Elvira Salazar said Thursday that she has tested positive for Covid-19 and will be unable to attend the congressional swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol on Sunday.
For more summaries and full reports, please select from the articles below. Scroll further for the latest virus numbers.
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