Covid kills Christmas cheer

Curfews, quarantines and even border closings complicated Christmas celebrations for numerous people around the globe, but ingenuity, determination and imagination helped to keep the day special for many.

In South Africa, which is battling a spike in cases and deaths driven by a variant of Covid-19, scientist Tulio de Oliveira was spending the holiday in his laboratory, doing genomic sequencing. He led the South African team that used sequencing to discover South Africa’s variant of the coronavirus.

New restrictions to battle the spread of infections have included the closure of many beaches that usually see large crowds of people over the Christmas holidays.

Pope Francis delivered his Christmas blessing from inside the Vatican, breaking with his traditional speech from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to tens of thousands in St Peter’s Square. Tourism in Italy has virtually vanished during the pandemic, and the government’s coronavirus restrictions for the holidays foiled any plans by locals to flock to the square. In a passionate appeal to leaders, businesses and international organisations, Francis said they must ensure that the most vulnerable and needy in the pandemic were first in line to receive the vaccines.

Bells rang out around Bethlehem as the traditional birthplace of Jesus celebrated Christmas Day. But the closure of Israel’s international airport

to foreign tourists, along with Palestinian restrictions banning inter-city travel in the areas they administer in the Israelioccupied West Bank, kept visitors away.

In Beijing, official churches abruptly cancelled Mass on Christmas Day in a last-minute move, after China’s capital was put on high alert following the confirmation of two confirmed Covid-19 cases last week, and two new asymptomatic cases yesterday.

Border crossing closures kept thousands of migrants from economically devastated

Venezuela who live in Colombia from going home for Christmas. Colombia’s government shut the crossings in a bid to slow down the spread of Covid-19 infections.

Others have successfully crossed borders elsewhere only to find themselves in quarantine for Christmas.

For their first Christmas since getting married in March, Nattasuda Anusonadisai and Patrick Kaplin are cooped up in quarantine in a Bangkok hotel room – so they had a Christmas tree delivered. They returned earlier this month from a

41⁄ 2- month trip to Canada and the

United States.

Churches in South Korea have ignited clusters of coronavirus infections in densely populated Seoul, along with hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants and prisons. The 1241 new daily cases reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency yesterday was a record for the country.

‘‘It’s Christmask,’’ the Daily Nation newspaper declared in Kenya, where a second surge in cases has eased and a brief doctors’ strike ended on Christmas Eve. Celebrations were muted in East Africa’s commercial hub, as overnight church vigils could not be held because of a curfew. Fewer people also reportedly headed home to see families, which could help to limit the spread of the virus to rural communities.

Grief prevailed among the families of more than 1.7 million people worldwide killed by the virus and roughly 80 million infected.

Margarita Reyes, 60, is among four people in her household to get the virus in Calexico, California, near the Mexican border. Her 69-year-old husband died within three weeks, and her 35-year-old daughter has been on an oxygen device for five months. They were too sad to celebrate in any way.

Love cut through barriers of loneliness at St Peter’s Nursing home in the northern Spanish town of El Astillero. Instead of spending the special day at relatives’ homes, the 70 residents, mindful of thousands of coronavirus deaths at nursing homes in Spain, opted for a video chat, or a 30-minute visit while separated by a plexiglass wall.

Luisa Melero met her daughter Mercedes Arejula with that protective barrier between them. ‘‘As her daughter, I would love to have her home and hug her all the time,’’ Arejula said. But she was taking heart that at the nursing home, ‘‘they are doing everything to protect her’’.

Melero sounded philosophical. ‘‘This terrible thing has come to us, so we must accept it and deal with it with patience,’’ she said.

Only one relative was allowed inside per visit, so from outside the home’s fence, a granddaughter blew Melero kisses. –

AP Christians line up to receive holy communion from a priest outside the church during a Christmas service in Gauhati, India. Churches worldwide have cancelled or rescheduled services, or are holding them online, as the Covid-19 pandemic shows no signs of abating.