As the countdown to 2024 approaches, Dwayne Taylor — the founder of events company Taylor Productions — is preparing to celebrate. For nearly a decade he has hosted one of San Jose’s largest New Year’s parties. And for the first time since 2020, COVID-19 is finally feeling like less of an obstacle. “I’ve had it three times, and I’ve also had a lot of really close friends who passed away from COVID,” said Taylor, who suspended the parties in 2020 and 2021 before bringing it back last year.
“So if I thought for a second that this party would be a problem or a spreader event, I would have canceled it in a heartbeat.” Despite the persistent presence of COVID-19 and an ongoing surge — hospitalizations are up, and so is the virus’ presence in wastewater — many Bay Area residents are making the same calculu