Extending his wishes on the New Year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday wished joy and good health to everyone. "Happy 2022! May this year bring abundance of joy and good health in everyone's lives. May we keep scaling new heights of progress and prosperity, and work even harder to fulfil the dreams of our great freedom fighters," he tweeted. While Indian tourists celebrate New Year's with beach party in Goa, Bengaluru witnessed no New Year celebrations on MG Road, Brigade Road over Omicron threat. Around the world, South Africans cheered its government's decision to lift the midnight curfew in place after nearly two years of Covid-19 restrictions, a relief for businesses and citizens just ahead of New Year celebrations. On Thursday, South Africa became the first country to say that it believed it had passed the peak of a wave of coronavirus infections caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant. Australia and New Zealand lit up with fireworks in Sydney and Aukland respectively as they ushered in the New Year 2022. With the Omicron virus surging across India and the world, various restrictions have forced people to stay back at home this New Year’s Eve. As we bid farewell to the old year on Friday, the night might be much quieter around the country with curbs kicking in across all states. As the New Year rings in, most countries are either on the verge of or in the middle of a new wave of coronavirus infections, courtesy the Omicron variant of the virus. While both the US and UK have been reporting record number of cases each day, experts in India believe that the country is on the verge of a third wave. Restrictions have been clamped across India on New Year celebrations. While festivities have been completely banned in states like Delhi and Karnataka, others have brought in strict restrictions, such as curfews, to control the spread of the virus.
