Lunar New Year celebrations muted
Pandemic hampers Year of the Ox get-togethers
Say goodbye to the Year of the Rat and hello to the Year of the Ox.
Lunar New Year – also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival – begins Friday, ushering in the second animal on the Zodiac with the second new moon after the winter solstice.
Though the occasion is meant to be spent with family and friends, the coronavirus pandemic means that celebrations around the world – from the United States to Britain to China – will look different this year for the 1.5 billion people who observe the occasion.
What does Lunar New Year signify?
The new year is a chance to start fresh, see loved ones and share in the hope of good things to come.
Vickie Lee, author of the children’s book “Ruby’s Chinese New Year,” told USA TODAY last year that Lunar New Year as “the most important and the most popular holiday for Chinese people and in the Chinese culture.”
“It’s a very joyful holiday (when) you’re supposed to go home, see your family,” she said. “In China, they celebrate it for two full weeks, and people actually travel home and from far, far away.”
Zhaojin Zeng, a professor of East Asian history at the University of Pittsburgh, compared the occasion to Thanksgiving in America, emphasizing the importance of time spent with family.
When does Chinese New Year start?
Because the holiday is tied to the year’s first new moon, the timing will vary. It can fall in January or early February, Lee told USA TODAY.
In China, the festival lasts 15 days, starting with a feast the night of New Year’s Eve and ending this year with the Spring Lantern Festival on Feb. 26. Vietnam’s Tết Nguyên Dán goes for up to a week, and Lunar New Year in South Korea, known as Seollal, runs for three days.
Why does the Lunar New Year fall on different days?
There are differences between the solar-lunar and Gregorain calendar, which the United States follows. The Gregorian calendar is based on the Earth’s cycle orbiting the sun, while the solar-lunar combines that with the moon’s cycle orbiting the earth.
In major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco, events celebrating the new year take place in the weeks before and after the first day of the lunar year.
The Lunar New Year typically falls between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20. Next year, the celebration will begin Tuesday, Feb. 1.
How is the Lunar New Year celebrated?
In addition to cleaning one’s home and adorning it with red banners, artwork and flowers, a priority in preparing for the holiday is making meals, Lee said.
“This holiday, like so many holidays in other cultures, is centered around food. So there’s several days of preparation where you’re making ... very sort of symbolic dishes like a whole fish,” she said. “A whole fish symbolizes prosperity.”
2021 is the Year of the Ox. What does it represent?
Feb. 12 marks the first day of the xin chou year, or Year of the Metal Ox under the Lunar New Year sexagenary cycle. Hong Kong-based feng shui master Thierry Chow told CNN that the ox is a hardworking zodiac sign that signifies movement.
“So, hopefully, the world will be less static than last year and get moving again in the second half of the year,” she said.
She added that the metal element of the year represents an emphasis on
metal industries in 2021, from jewelry to “the needle of a syringe.”
How are people celebrating Chinese New Year in a pandemic?
While celebrations typically vary around the world, they will be especially different this year as the pandemic forces people to stay at home. In New Jersey, where Asian Americans account for 10% of the state’s 8.9 million people, those who mark the day are arranging everything from drive-thru celebratory meals to Zoom performances to ensure that this year will be one to remember.
“We’re helping to bring normal to not a normal year,” said Yoon Kim, director of the Korean American Association of New Jersey. The organization will distribute food at a drive-by event and will host a food drive this weekend.
And in Arizona, organizers of Phoenix’s Chinese Week said last year that they would not go forward with any inperson celebrations for the Lunar New Year. Instead, elements of the festival will be accessible online.
At bus and train stations in China, there is no sign of the annual Lunar New Year rush. The government has called on the public to avoid travel because of new coronavirus outbreaks. The South China Morning Post reported that Hong Kong’s annual Lunar New Year night parade will be replaced by an online shopping event.
Despite that, the government says people will make 1.7 billion trips during the holiday, but that is down 40% from 2019.
ALABAMA Montgomery: Vaccines against COVID-19 will be available by appointment starting Friday at more than 70 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores across Alabama, the company and the state announced.
ALASKA Juneau: The state is expanding eligibility for vaccinations to people 50 and older with high-risk medical conditions, prekindergarten through grade 12 teachers and child care workers, and those 50 and older in jobs considered essential who work in close proximity to others. ARIZONA Phoenix: Facing complaints from advocates for people with disabilities, the state Senate is eyeing legislation that would bar hospitals from considering a person’s potential lifespan, quality of life or disability if the facilities are forced to ration care during a pandemic. ARKANSAS Little Rock: The state Senate on Wednesday approved a measure allowing medical providers to refuse to treat someone because of their religious or moral beliefs, a move critics say will allow them to turn LGBTQ patients away. CALIFORNIA San Francisco: The Golden State has edged past New York in COVID-19 deaths, with 45,496, according to Johns Hopkins University data reported Thursday. COLORADO Denver: Businesses in the state have sold about $10 billion of marijuana since it was legalized for recreational use in 2014, according to new data from the Department of Revenue. Marijuana revenue from 2020 surpassed figures from all of 2019 by the end of October. CONNECTICUT Hartford: New, limited data released Wednesday from the state Department of Public Health suggests racial disparities in the administration of COVID-19 vaccines. The department cautioned that there are gaps in data reporting. DELAWARE Dover: Local hip-hop musician and activist Amillion the Poet has offered up a sobering music video on YouTube about the pandemic titled “The Quarantine.” The song is a melodic reminder to wear masks and take COVID-19 seriously, especially since the country has eclipsed 400,000 coronavirus deaths. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Howard University Hospital said Thursday that it will open a clinic offering residents 65 and up COVID19 vaccines, WUSA-TV reports. FLORIDA Orlando: Local tourism officials are launching their first fullscale marketing campaign since the pandemic, aimed at tourists within driving distance. Along with highlighting theme parks and restaurants, the $2.2 million project emphasizes safety measures taken to protect visitors against the coronavirus. GEORGIA Atlanta: State lawmakers approved their changes to the current year’s budget Thursday, including more money for K-12 schools and public health, along with $1,000 bonuses for more than 50,000 state employees. The budget restores funding cut last year amid fears of steeper revenue losses from the pandemic. HAWAII Honolulu: A moratorium on residential evictions is expected to be extended another two months in a coronavirus emergency proclamation from Gov. David Ige. An improved economy means planned 10% budget reductions across the state will fall to 2.5% for the Department of Education, restoring $123 million, he said. IDAHO Boise: Legislation taking aim at limits on how many people can gather during the pandemic cleared the state House on Wednesday, but it doesn’t appear likely to have any force. The resolution says the 50person limit in Gov. Brad Little’s health order last week is “declared null, void, and of no force and effect.” Little’s order recommends but doesn’t require the limit and has no penalty. ILLINOIS Quincy: Residents under 65 years old with preexisting medical conditions will be eligible Feb. 25 to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday. INDIANA Indianapolis: Gov. Eric Holcomb defended the constitutionality of his COVID-19 restrictions in response to a state House vote this week to limit his emergency powers. “I want to make sure whatever changes we make are constitutional, and I think we all share that, but we’re coming from a lot of different angles,” Holcomb said.
IOWA Des Moines: The Catholic Church is the state’s largest recipient of money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program intended to help small businesses, a review of the program shows. The church got more than $50 million in Iowa, where it has thousands of employees, but the program was intended to help companies with fewer than 500 workers. Catholic officials lobbied the Trump administration to free religious groups from a rule that typically disqualifies applicants with more than 500 workers from being treated as a small business. KANSAS Mission: School districts are rushing to vaccinate teachers in preparation for a full reopening of classrooms. Gov. Laura Kelly said Wednesday that about 60% of districts have started giving shots to teachers and staff.
KENTUCKY Louisville: A bill that would limit the state’s authority to reduce class sizes at child care centers in an emergency won approval by a Senate committee Wednesday despite one member’s concerns that it could cause problems in a future disaster or disease outbreak. LOUISIANA New Orleans: Hospitality industry workers losing income amid a bar shutdown and coronavirus restrictions in the French Quarter over the weekend through Mardi Gras can apply for five days of part-time work with the city, the mayor’s office said Wednesday. MAINE Portland: Androscoggin County Commissioner Isaiah Lary, a Republican, is continuing a campaign to stop enforcement of the state’s mask mandate, despite rulings by the state’s highest court that the orders are legal.
MARYLAND Bel Air: Harford County wants the state to use Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen as a mass vaccination site, noting that doses are being held back in the jurisdiction after large-scale sites opened in more populous areas. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The state is opening two new mass vaccination sites this month in Natick and Dartmouth, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday.
MICHIGAN Lansing: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday proposed a $67 billion state budget she said would aid the pandemic recovery by solidifying new programs to expand eligibility for free community college tuition, bolstering child care assistance and boosting bridge repairs, as well as addressing learning loss and K-12 enrollment declines. MINNESOTA Minneapolis: State officials on Wednesday unveiled their plan to deal with toxic manmade “forever chemicals” causing growing concerns about potential health risks. The Minnesota PFAS Blueprint calls for the state to enact stronger regulations, including designating more than 5,000 different chemicals as hazardous substances under Minnesota’s Superfund law. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The state is spending $5 million of federal coronavirus aid to appoint eight senior judges to help reduce the backlog in the Hinds County court system.
MISSOURI Jefferson City: State lawmakers are considering several bills that would allow Missourians to keep unemployment benefits they were given by mistake if they did not intentionally commit fraud. MONTANA Helena: Saying he will lift a statewide mask requirement Friday, Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill Wednesday intended to protect businesses and health providers from coronavirus-related lawsuits. He said it will allow businesses to open safely during the pandemic. NEBRASKA Omaha: The state should see at least 43 retail pharmacies participating in a new federal program to provide COVID-19 vaccinations, but state officials don’t have a good way to communicate with all of them to avoid mistakes, Gov. Pete Ricketts said Wednesday. NEVADA Las Vegas: Distance runners will cover a shorter course, running only a half-marathon, when the Rock ’n’ Roll race series returns to the Las Vegas Strip in a year, tourism and event officials said Tuesday. Races in 2020 and 2021 were canceled due to the pandemic. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: With coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations on the decline, the governor’s reopening task force on Thursday looked ahead to summer and recommended updated guidance for camp operators that includes keeping children in small groups.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: The state’s vaccine call center will stop booking appointments temporarily because agents were making too many mistakes such as double-booking patients, state officials said Wednesday. Since the center opened two weeks ago, only 600 appointments had been booked by early this week despite it being inundated with hundreds of thousands of callers. NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: State officials on Wednesday said they would be ending self-quarantine requirements for visitors and residents arriving in the state, as more counties have reported less spread of the coronavirus in the past two weeks. NEW YORK Albany: Large arenas and stadiums can reopen for sports and entertainment at 10% of normal capacity starting Feb. 23 under a plan announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday, despite concern from public health experts. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Gov. Roy Cooper announced Wednesday that educators and support staff will be eligible for vaccines starting Feb. 24 as part of a staggered rollout of the next phase of distribution. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses being delivered to North Dakota is increasing. The state will see a 5% increase, Gov. Doug Burgum said. OHIO Columbus: The discovery of up to 4,000 unreported COVID-19 deaths came as the Health Department reconciled an internal death certificate database with a federal database, the state auditor’s office said. Thursday’s data showed more than 720 new deaths, of which 650 came from previously unreported deaths, Gov. Mike DeWine said.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed into law a bill letting public bodies continue meeting virtually as a safety precaution. PENNSYLVANIA Beaver: An analysis of state data found four rural counties didn’t receive any doses in the first six weeks of a bungled vaccine rollout, and the majority of doses went to health care systems focused solely on inoculating employees. RHODE ISLAND Pawtucket: The city’s school district, which had largely resisted pressure to bring students back to the classroom, has approved a plan to resume in-person learning for most kids next month. SOUTH CAROLINA Greer: While many people grapple with whether to wear two face masks or one, the operator of a local company that’s producing 25,000 three-layer disposable masks every day says one will do. “You don’t have to do that, doubling of a mask,” said Rick Gehricke, COO of Carolina Facemask and PPE. “If you have a mask certified to international standards, you don’t have to.” SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: Lawmakers are working to memorialize one of their own whom they lost last year to COVID-19. Bob Glanzer died in April while serving as a member of the state House of Representatives. He was known as “Mr. Huron” for his community involvement in his hometown over his 74 years. House Speaker Spencer Gosch said the memorial could be anything from a sculpture or a plaque to naming a planned multipurpose facility in Huron after him. TENNESSEE Knoxville: Public health officials announced Wednesday that 975 doses of vaccine that went missing were likely thrown out by accident. “It was a kick in the gut for all of us,” Knox County Health Department Director Dr. Martha Buchanan said through tears. “I apologize.” TEXAS Austwell: The pandemic has canceled this year’s flights to count the only natural flock of whooping cranes – the first time in 71 years that crews in Texas couldn’t make an aerial survey on and around Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.
UTAH Panguitch: Garfield County, with just over 5,000 people, has seen nearly 400 cases of COVID-19 – more than one in every dozen people have had it. Sheriff Danny Perkins said the spread picked up this fall at the county jail. About two thirds of inmates got it, though none of their cases was serious. “But it got out in our staff, and it was devastating,” Perkins said. VERMONT Burlington: The nonprofit Age Well VT is working with the city to help seniors register for an appointment to get their first dose or to get an at-home COVID-19 vaccination, if necessary, WCAX-TV reports. VIRGINIA Newport News: Christopher Newport University is seeing its largest wave of coronavirus cases this school year, and one official put blame on students breaking rules instead of the return to in-person classes. More than 20% of cadets at the Virginia Military Institute are in isolation or quarantine. At William & Mary, cases are also rising sharply. WASHINGTON Olympia: The state Supreme Court has unanimously rejected a recall effort against the Thurston County sheriff, saying his announcement that he would not criminally enforce a state mask mandate was not unreasonable.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The Make It Shine Earth Day Celebration, West Virginia Youth Environmental Day and state Junior Conservation Camp have been canceled for a second year because of the pandemic, the state Department of Environmental Protection said in a release. WISCONSIN Madison: The Legislature’s GOP-controlled budget committee approved a bill Wednesday that would cut taxes by $540 million by the middle of 2023, largely by eliminating taxes on federal loans to businesses to help them through the pandemic. The full Legislature could vote to pass it as soon as Tuesday. WYOMING Casper: The Coal Creek coal mine says it will shut down, making it the second in the Powder River Basin to announce this year that it’s closing. Production losses from coal companies have led to rising unemployment. The pandemic also lowered demand for coal.