Millions face another Easter under curbs
Millions of Christians around the world prepared yesterday to spend another Easter weekend under restrictions because of coronavirus surges, but there was good news from the hard-hit United States, which crossed the milestone of 100 million vaccinations.
There have been worrying spikes in infections in many parts of the world, even as vaccine rollouts gather pace, forcing the reimposition of deeply unpopular restrictions, including in European nations.
Italy began a strict Easter lockdown yesterday, with the entire country considered a high-risk coronavirus “red zone” during a time when families usually hold reunions.
At the Vatican on Good Friday, a handful of onlookers caught a glimpse of Pope Francis presiding over the “Way of the Cross” ceremony in an empty St Peter’s Square, with Covid-19 restrictions preventing large gatherings there for a second year in a row.
New restrictions also came into force in France, where authorities are scrambling to deal with a dramatic rise in cases that has overwhelmed hospitals in Paris.
Curbs had been intensified in other European nations, such as Belgium, and Germany — where the government scrapped plans for a strict Easter lockdown — saw Chancellor Angela Merkel urge people to limit their social contacts ahead of the break.
“Doctors and nurses are doing everything they can,” Merkel said on Thursday, warning that hospitals were filling up with younger people.
“We shouldn’t leave them alone, but instead support them through our own actions... That means it should be a quiet Easter celebration, in a small circle, with strongly reduced contacts.”
But there was a step towards normal in Jerusalem’s Old City, where a lockdown dampened Easter last year.
There was a modest crowd this year as most major sites opened thanks to Israel’s successful vaccine rollout.
“Last year, it was very hard. We felt like the city was dead,” said Lina Sleibi, a Palestinian Christian who sings at church services in the nearby West Bank holy city of Bethlehem.
Now, “you feel alive again”. President Joe Biden has vowed to cover the vast majority within weeks. But infections remain on
the rise in parts of the country. Despite the success of the vaccine rollout, Biden urged Americans to keep wearing masks and taking other precautions.
One of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks is devastating Brazil, which has reported more deaths than any country in the world after the US.
It is the epicentre of an unfolding
crisis in Latin America, where infections have soared past 25 million, likely fuelled by a seemingly more contagious variant first detected in Brazil.
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez announced on Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. He had received the two-shot Sputnik V vaccine from Russia.