Christmas is one of the joyful moments on the Christian calendar. December 25 each year, the birth of Jesus Christ is commemorated and in the spirit of festivity and goodwill, it is predominantly characterized by merry-making, presentation of gifts, and an occasion to exhibit fellow feeling and good natured-ness to loved ones. The celebration, however, is going to be a muted affair in most parts of the world this year due to the resurgence of the virus in some countries.
CHRISTMASCOVID, therefore, considers how the pandemic has affected this year’s celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior– Jesus Christ, across the globe.
GHANA
Christmas is one of the biggest festivities celebrated across Africa including Ghana, being a Christian dominated country. For individuals in Ghana, such festivities usually commence as early as the 20th of December and spans to the first week of January.
During this season, people use the opportunity to visit family members and precious ones as well as return to their countryside to celebrate the festivity. It’s common to find children making ornaments from crepe paper as part of the celebrations.
Also, during church services at this time of the year, children present a native play or a festive drama, which is an essential part of how Ghanaians celebrate this holiday; not forgetting the numerous Christmas carol events that are organized to mark the festive season. It’s also common to see people going to the beaches, pubs and other places of recreation just to have fun and make merry without any restrictions. This is the Christmas Ghanaians are used to since time immemorial.
However, with the entrance of COVID-19, things have now taken a new turn. Even though Ghana has not been impacted greatly by the coronavirus as compared to other countries, the effect of the virus has unavoidably been felt in the loss of jobs, lives, and livelihoods. Workers who are fortunate not to have lost their jobs have often had their salaries slashed to the barest minimum. This makes it difficult for affected persons to celebrate as they would have done during pre-COVID periods.
Moreover, COVID 19 protocols are still expected to be observed as there’s a new surge in the number of infections. Even so, these protocols and measures will not stop most Ghanaians from having all the fun and enjoyment since some restaurants, beaches, and pubs are beginning to open for business except the fact that they are going to accommodate a few people.
AUSTRALIA
In Australia, Christmas is celebrated at the beginning of the summer holidays which normally falls between mid-December and early February.
Decorations of Christmas trees and Christmas lights on homes and gardens during Christmas subtly spark competitions among neighbors to see who has got the best decorations in their homes.
Christmas displays are sometimes put out as early as 1st December. Estimates show that a street at Sidney-Australia’s capital raises about AUS$35,000 every year with their coordinated street displays, with the proceeds being donated to charity.
During Christmas, Australians hang wreaths on their front doors and sometimes go out to sing Christmas carol on Christmas Eve. In each state capital city, large carol services are organized and televised as families also exchange presents.
On Christmas Day, people who live on the outskirt of town send Christmas greetings to each other over the radio network and on Boxing Day, most families go out to hang out with friends and make merry at the beaches. A famous Yacht race from Sidney to Hobart in Tasmania is also held on Boxing Day.
However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 will affect the once joyous season in Australia this year. To add insult to injury, the new strain of the COVID-19 has also been detected in Australia and as of Thursday, December 24, 2020, there were a total of 28, 262 COVID-19 cases, 25,486 recoveries, and 908 deaths in Australia. Victoria has the highest number of cases of 20,361 with 820 deaths.
A temporary divide has been imposed between the northern and southern sections of the northern beaches on Thursday with restrictions relaxed to varying degrees, allowing outsiders to enter parts of the locked-down hotspot over a three-day window from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day – Thursday to Saturday.
New South Wales health authorities are worried undetected COVID cases among office workers in Sydney’s CBD could spread the virus at Christmas gatherings, as the number of infections linked to the northern beaches cluster grew to 104 on 24th December 2020. With these restrictions, it is obvious that Australians will not be able to celebrate this year’s Christmas as they would have loved to. Thus, the joy of children may be fundamentally stripped from their faces by the surge in COVID cases.
AMERICA – “Zoom Christmas Parties”
Like all other places, Christmas in America comes with an atmosphere of pomp, plush, celebrations, spending time with family and friends, but not only that, gifts are exchanged between families, and ultimately, people give out to charity.
Whilst this celebration finds meaning among Christian folks, it is also widely observed by non-Christians and non-religious individuals although not for the same reasons.
In a year like no other, Christmas celebration in the US is not immune to the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With rising COVID-19 cases and deaths in several states in the US, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has advised Americans to avoid congregating with families for Christmas parties, but they could alternatively adopt “zoom Christmas parties” with families.
The luster in the celebration that is better felt meeting together with loved ones cannot be replaced with another, and zoom will do little in that regard. For Children, Santa Claus brings out the magic in Christmas. However, quite unfortunately, Santa is going to encounter a hard time having kids around, hugging, and taking pictures with them.
Most Americans blend both the spiritual and secular activities with family traditions, often incorporating food, decorations, and rituals from places they or their ancestors once called home. Roast turkey and ham are popular Christmas dinners throughout the country, but depending on the region.
In Southwest America, lanterns made from brown paper bags called luminarias spotted with sand and illuminated by a lit candle are displayed. Many Mexican Americans celebrate ‘Las Posadas’, a procession that re-enacts Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to lay their heads in Bethlehem.
Swedish Americans hold St. Lucia festivals, and in Puerto Rico, there are ‘Parrandas’, where friends go from one house to the next singing traditional songs.
However, in this ‘Covid-Christmas’ some traditions likely to be experienced include: families getting their Christmas Trees and decorating them with pop-corn threaded on strings; making gingerbread houses to eat, going to church, decorating houses and streets with lights, and caroling.
ASIA
It is interesting to note that not all parts of Asia celebrate Christmas, to the extent that, some countries do not mark it as a holiday. Asian countries have a smaller number of Christians and Catholics compared to the rest of the world.
As a result, in many Asian countries, Christmas has a more secular view than a religious one. Christmas wreaths, Merry Christmas banners, colorful lights, and ornaments can be seen everywhere since most of these decorations are made in China anyway. But in most Asian countries, Christmas is not recognized as a public holiday, which means that offices, as well as schools, colleges, and universities, remain open.
For countries like Tokyo, Korea, Philippines amongst others who celebrate Christmas, this is not the case. The Philippines, for example, is known for celebrating the world’s longest Christmas season, which begins on 1st September. Their celebrations are mostly marked with outdoor merry-making activities.
However, due to the ongoing pandemic and the fresh surge in new cases, most of these celebrations will be done indoors as some countries are currently on lockdown.
In some parts of Asia, there have been a massive resurgence and their governments have restored some social distancing restrictions in recent weeks which will clamp down on private social gatherings of five or more people between Christmas Eve to January.
Restaurants have been cautioned about the possibility of being fined if they accept large groups. Ski resorts and national parks will be closed, and hotels cannot sell more than 50% of their rooms during this period, changing the whole scope of the Christmas celebrations to a rather solemn and hushed one.
EUROPE
Christmas is arguably Europe’s favorite holiday with indoor family gatherings and traveling; a traditional fixture of the holiday season.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic has generally given governments in Europe a Christmas dilemma; play carefree Santa or responsible Grinch, as the second wave of the virus remains in full swing.
This has been compounded by the discovery of the fast-moving new variant of the virus in the UK, which is said to be 70% more transmissible than existing strains.
One after the other, the governments have announced new and varied emergency restrictions imposed on their already-exhausted citizens to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus. In many jurisdictions, this has to a large extent resulted in the cancellation of Christmas.
Considering the impact of the COVID on various European countries, a quick tour to a few countries will reveal how this year’s celebration will be impacted by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
ITALY– “More sober Christmas…”
Italy is currently seeing the highest number of deaths since the end of March and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has told Italians to expect a “more sober Christmas, without Christmas Eve gatherings, hugs and kisses”.
The government has imposed a ban on travel and the traditional midnight mass over the Christmas period. Therefore, between December 21 and January 6, Italians will only be allowed to move between regions for work, medical reasons, and emergencies.
On top of the regional travel bans, people will not be allowed to leave their hometowns on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day.
NETHERLANDS
Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the country will go into a strict lockdown for five weeks, from 15 December to 19 January. The lockdown is currently underway.
Citizens have been told to refrain from booking non-essential travel abroad until mid-March.
Restrictions will be eased slightly for the three days of Christmas, where Dutch households are allowed three instead of two guests, not counting children under 13.
THE UK
Millions of people in London and the U.K.’s southeast will be forced to cancel their Christmas plans after the region was placed under the strictest lockdown rules as a result of the new variant.
As a result, nonessential shops, gyms, cinemas, hairdressers, and bowling alleys have been forced to close for two weeks and this will be reviewed on December 30, while people will be restricted from mixing up with anyone outside their household at Christmas.
The rest of England, Scotland, and Wales have not been left out as initial plans to relax indoor mixing rules over the holidays have been cut from five days to Christmas Day only.
CROATIA
Croats won’t be able to leave the county of their residence between Dec. 23 and January 8. Also, not more than ten (10) people from a maximum of two households will be allowed at private gatherings during the holiday season.
GERMANY
Only essential shops will be allowed to open from Dec. 16, 2020, until at least Jan. 10, 2021. Private gatherings will remain limited to no more than five people from two households, with rules to be eased over the Christmas holidays when up to ten (10) people will be allowed to gather, not counting children.
While these stories may seem a tad gloomy, the closeness which the pandemic has paradoxically brought on globally will be all the warmth needed to celebrate Christmas this year in anticipation of a more blissful one in the coming years.
