Curfew

Restrictions are being placed on New Year festivities around the world as many countries struggle to curb new spikes in coronavirus cases.

Fireworks displays and other public gatherings have been cancelled from Sydney to New York.

Festivities are being particularly muted in Europe, amid fears over a new more contagious strain of the disease.

France is to mobilise 100,000 police and gendarmes on New Year's Eve to break up parties and enforce a curfew imposed to combat coronavirus.

The extra security also aims at halting the torching of cars that often takes place on the final night of the year.

France has confirmed 2.6m Covid-19 cases, the fifth highest total in the world, and more than 64,000 deaths.

Turkey is set to welcome the new year under a four-day lockdown, spanning from tonight 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Jan. 4 as part of measures against COVID-19.

The authorities this month had re-introduced weekend lockdowns as well as nighttime curfews amid a spike in infections and deaths.

More than 10,000 police officers will be deployed throughout the country for New Year's Eve in order to ensure compliance with the measures for preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The restrictions will be similar to those imposed for the Christmas holiday but police checks will be more intensive.

Greek authorities imposed a full lockdown on the island of Kalymnos island, in the southeast Aegean, starting on New Year's Eve (Thursday), after a jump in SARS-CoV-2 cases.

The measures go into effect at 6 a.m. and last through January 9.

Turkey will close certain streets and squares during the upcoming four-day weekend curfew as part of measures against the spread of coronavirus during the New Year's Eve celebrations, with the ban also covering foreign tourists, authorities announced on Dec. 30. 

Procedural and administrative actions have been taken against a total of 40,591 people across Turkey who violated the weeknight curfews and full lockdown on the weekend between Dec. 21 and Dec. 28, the country's Interior Ministry has said.

Greek Police (ELAS) is considering whether to close main metro stations such as Syntagma to prevent the gathering of people on the main square to celebrate Christmas, state-run news agency ANA-MPA reported Thursday.

Records are being broken in the United States as well, and the pandemic has contributed to the highest mortality in American history. In Germany, despite strict measures, a record number of dead.
Israel today reported four cases of a new strain of coronavirus that appeared in Great Britain, Reuters reports.

The number of coronavirus cases in Turkey has been decreasing since the introduction of weekday night curfews and weekend lockdowns, but officials are urging citizens to remain vigilant as the New Year's holiday approaches.