Hyderabad: Uncertainty looms over New Year celebrations due to Omicron scare

With the increase in the number of Omicron cases, organizers are uncertain over the events for New Year which is around the corner. Hotels, restaurants, resorts and farm houses have been booked six months ago for the big events on the New Year. However, due to the rise in Omicron cases, the organizers are in dilemma on the conduct of events.

Although the Telangana government has not banned the New Year celebrations this year, the even organizers are worried of the restrictions imposed by the government in the view of new variant. It is estimated that the New Year events business will fall by more than 50 per cent. The organizers are also skeptical about the number of people participating in the New Year celebrations amidst the strict COVID-19 rules. They also have no hope of making the New Year events successful with partial approvals from the government.

Meanwhile, some organizers have planned concerts and other entertainment programmes with limited guests in the view of COVID-19 and Omicron cases.

The New Year events business has dropped 50 percent in the past two years and several hoped to make huge profits this year due to the decrease in the cases for the last few months. However, the COVID-19 cases have risen and the new variant has been surfaced in Telangana worrying the event organizers and management of hotels and pubs in the city.