US cities scale back New Year’s Eve events and urge people to scrap parties

Americans face stay-at-home celebration again as some mayors scale back or cancel public events amid Covid surge

Americans are again facing a stay-at-home New Year's Eve as US political leaders and senior health advisers have urged people to scrap party plans and avoid larger public events as daily cases of Covid-19 break all previous records.

In New York, attendance at the Times Square celebration known as the Ball Drop - in essence, tens of thousands of people watching a 12-foot geodesic sphere inlaid with Waterford crystals descend a long pole - has been capped at 15,000, down from pre-pandemic 60,000, with organizers encouraging revelers to watch it on TV or online.