A season of fear, not cheer, as virus changes Christmas
All most people wanted for Christmas after this year of pandemic uncertainty and chaos was some cheer and togetherness. Instead many are heading into a season of isolation, grieving lost loved ones, worried about their jobs or confronting the fear of a new potentially more contagious virus variant.
Residents of London and surrounding areas can’t see people outside their households. Peruvians won’t be allowed to drive their cars over Christmas and New Year to discourage visits even with nearby family and friends. South Africans won’t be able to go to the beach on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
The patchwork of restrictions being imposed by local and national governments across the world varies widely — but few holiday seasons will look normal this year.
People the world over are facing wrenching decisions — to see isolated elderly relatives despite the risk or to miss one of the potentially few Christmases left in the hopes of spending the holiday together next year.
There are no nationwide travel restrictions in the United States, but health officials have urged people to stay home and limit gatherings. Some states require travelers to get tested or quarantine.
Michelle Dallaire, 50, an attorney in Idlewild, Michigan, said this would be her first Christmas away from her father, who lives in northern Virginia. They decided it wasn’t worth the risk this year.
“It’s sad, but better than never seeing him again,” said Dallaire, who has health issues that also make her particularly vulnerable to the virus.
The virus has been blamed for more than 1.7 million deaths worldwide, and many are still grieving — or worried about loved ones in hospitals or nursing homes as the virus surges anew. But some who have survived sickness — and everything else that 2020 has thrown at them — are looking to rejoice.
Dr. Elisaveta Tomova, an anesthesiologist in North Macedonia, is exhausted after months of helping women with the virus give birth and caring for her 26-year-old son, who became infected himself.
“I have faced a nine-headed monster, and my son and I have beat it,” the 54-year-old said. “All I need now is my family to be around me, to celebrate in silence and to fill my heart with joy.”
In Italy, which has Europe’s highest confirmed death toll and where many have fallen into poverty following lockdowns, the government has imposed even more restrictions.
The four nations of the U.K. — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — have all ditched their original Christmas relaxation plans. Hopes that a vaccine could stop the spread were high just weeks ago when Britain was the first country to roll out a rigorously tested shot, but now an aura of dread hangs over the holiday as daily new infections soar.
Adding to the gloom, a new variant of the virus is surging around London and its surrounding areas. Dozens of countries banned travel from Britain in response, though France began allowing trucks from the country to enter again after a standoff that raised fears of Christmastime food shortages in the U.K.
While many countries tightened restrictions, Lebanon, with the largest percentage of Christians in the Mideast, was actually easing them despite rapidly growing cases. It made that decision to boost an ailing economy and alleviate despair exacerbated by a devastating port explosion in Beirut in August.