Los Angeles New Year’s Eve celebration going online as cases rise

Los Angeles’s New Year’s Eve celebration is moving mostly online as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in L.A. County, The Associated Press reported. 

Organizers said on Monday that the planned New Year’s Eve party at Los Angeles’s Grand Park will not have an in-person audience and will be streamed online instead. 

The invite-only audience was going to include front-line workers and first responders.

Outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said Sunday that city officials will decide this week on whether to hold the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration due to concerns of the rise of omicron variant cases. 

While 43 states have reported omicron cases so far, the delta variant is still driving much of the current surge across the country. 

On Sunday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) has reported 3,500 new COVID-19 cases, tripling the number of daily new cases from the previous week, the AP reported. 

This year’s “NYELA Countdown to 2022” will feature the band Kinky and other musical performances starting at 11 p.m. on Dec. 31, the AP noted.