Coronavirus casts shadow over Lunar New Year and lion dancers for the second year running

The upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations across Australia have either been cancelled or scaled back due to ongoing uncertainty and public health concerns from the pandemic.

The annual celebration, which falls on February 12 this year, usually attracts up to 1.5 million visitors to Sydney, making it the largest event of its kind outside of Asia.

But this year, the City of Sydney has turned to events on a smaller scale.

In Melbourne, Year of Ox celebrations in Chinatown will…