"Good riddance to 2021. Let 2022 bring fresh hope."
That appears to be the common theme on the tips of everyone's tongues — as the world began welcoming the new year.
New Zealand was one of the first places to celebrate the new year with a low-key lights display projected onto Auckland landmarks, including the Sky Tower and Harbour Bridge, replacing the traditional fireworks show.
In many places, New Year's Eve celebrations were muted or cancelled for the second straight year due to a surge of coronavirus infections, this time driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant.
While there hasn't yet been any community spread of Omicron in New Zealand, authorities still wanted to discourage crowds from gathering.
Neighbouring Australia, however,
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