Citizens worldwide welcomed in the new year with muted celebrations due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and restrictions in place to limit crowds.
Trafalgar Square in London and Times Square in New York City were notably empty, with many cities opting to ring in the new year with online broadcasts, coordinated fireworks displays, or in the case of Edinburgh, the UK’s largest-ever drone light show.
Major news outlets in Poland reported that most people stayed home on New Year’s Eve and celebrated only with their immediate family, heeding calls from health officials and experts.
Calls to refrain from shooting off fireworks, however, were not as successful. According to reports in Trojmiasto.pl, fire services were called out over 20 times on New Year’s eve to deal with firework-related incidents.
Source: Radio Poland, Trojmiasto.pl
Polish President Andrzej Duda opened his annual New Year’s address with calls for „comfort and consolation,” as he expressed hopes that the ongoing vaccination program „will allow us to come to grips with the pandemic and will help us return to normality.”
Duda went on to stress the need to remain diligent in the fight against coronavirus, as „the whole world is struggling with another wave of the epidemic,” going on to note the „tight restrictions and limitations…in place all across Europe.”
Poland entered a so-called „national quarantine” on December 28, in which nonessential shops and services, including restaurants, gyms, and cultural centers, will remain closed until at least January 17.
Duda ended his speech on a positive note, calling on all residents of Poland to begin 2021 with a renewed sense of confidence and „the hope that all the challenges in store for us in the next twelve months…shall be overcome.”
Source: Radio Gdańsk, prezydent.pl, PAP
Some brave residents of Trójmiasto welcomed in the new year yesterday with a unique tradition: swimming in the cold waters of the Baltic Sea.
For over 40 years, fans of winter swimming or „morsowanie” have been meeting on beaches in Jelitkowo and Gdynia to take a ceremonial icy plunge to celebrate the arrival of the new year.
Some are members of the Gdańsk Morsowanie Club, but the tradition draws participants from other parts of the country and abroad. Participants typically engage in some „warm-up exercises,” snap a few photos together and finally enter the water en masse.
This year’s celebrations were notably smaller, but several brave souls still entered the water yesterday in various creative costumes. To see pictures of those who took the plunge, visit HERE.
Top Polish ski jumper Dawid Kubacki won the second leg of this season’s prestigious Four Hills Tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, yesterday.
The five-time Four Hills champion posted a final jump of 144 meters to finish ahead of Halvor Egner Granerud of Norway in second, and fellow Pole Piotr Żyła in third. Kamil Stoch, who was runner-up in the first leg, placed fourth overall, just shy of the podium.
Granerud remains in the lead in overall tournament rankings, with Stoch in third and Kubacki currently in fourth. Kubacki became the third Polish ski jumper to claim the overall Four Hills Tournament title after soaring to victory in the final stage of the annual series last year.
The next round of competitions in Austria will take place tomorrow in Innsbruck before finishing in Bischofshofen on January 6.
Source: Radio Gdańsk, Radio Poland
Weather
Today will be partly cloudy and cool, with a light breeze coming in from the south and very little chance of rain. Temperatures will remain above freezing during the day, with a high of 4°C, or 39°F, dropping to a low of -1°C or 30°F overnight. Similar weather is expected tomorrow, with a chance for rain returning on the weekend.
EP/am
