See images of New Year’s in New Zealand – where COVID-19 is nearly nonexistent

Just imagine: You’re with your closest friends and family — maskless. Perhaps dozens of others are around you. Fireworks are being shot off to ring in the new year and everyone is embracing one another.

For many Americans, that’s merely a fantasy as the COVID-19 pandemic will make New Year’s Eve less exciting than years past..

But for New Zealanders, New Year’s Eve was about as normal as can be.

In New Zealand, an island country with a population of 4.8 million in the south Pacific, coronavirus is nearly nonexistent. The country has just 55 active cases and has had only 1,806 total confirmed infections since the worldwide pandemic began.

Early Thursday morning, Americans watched as New Zealand entered into 2021 with large crowds, parties and fireworks.

Take a look at New Year’s Eve celebrations around New Zealand, among the first countries to usher in 2021.