Curfews, quarantines and even border crossings on Fridays complicated the Christmas celebrations for people around the world, although ingenuity, determination and imagination made the day something special for many.
In Beijing, official churches suddenly canceled Christmas at the last minute after the Chinese capital went on guard after confirming two cases of COVID-19 last week, and they were identified. two asymptomatic cases on Friday. Built by Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century, St. Joseph’s Church in Beijing was one of the churches with cancellation notices.
Border closures prevented thousands of migrants fleeing the economic crisis in Venezuela from returning home from Colombia for Christmas. The Colombian government closed the border crossings in an attempt to stop the infections. Those trying to get home for the holidays this year had to turn to smugglers.
Yakelin Tamaure, a nurse who left Venezuela two years ago, would not return home, saying there would be no gifts or new clothes for her two children, ages 10 and 15. Tamaure explained that she has not been able to find a job as a nurse because she does not yet have a residence permit in Colombia. His parents are still in Venezuela.
She was also concerned that her mother had broken her foot, and although she tried to send her money, it wasn’t the same as being with her.
Others managed to cross the border but were quarantined. On their first Christmas since they got married in March, Nattasuda Anusonadisai and Patrick Kaplin were held in a hotel room in Bangkok. It wasn’t much fun, but they arranged to have a Christmas tree.
This month, they returned ahead of schedule from a four and a half month trip to Canada and the United States, a 32-hour journey from Montreal with a stopover in Doha. A prerequisite for entering Thailand is to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. Thai citizens can stay in state centers for free, but foreigners like Kaplin, who is Canadian, have to pay to stay in a licensed hotel, the option the couple chose to stay together.
“The hotel was surprised that we ordered a large Christmas tree, but it didn’t take much for us to bring it,” said Anusonadisai. But they hadn’t ordered enough decorations, so they hung items they had brought from their travels, such as an eagle’s feather and of course masks.
“Now we will continue this tradition, it is nice to see so many personal memories of the tree,” said Kaplan.
In densely populated Seoul, the capital of South Korea, sources of contamination have been recorded in churches, hospitals, homes, restaurants and prisons. The South Korean Agency for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,241 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, a record for the country.
Song Ju-Hyeon, who lives in Paju, near Seoul, and is expecting a baby in February, said she just feels safe at home now.
“It doesn’t feel like Christmas anyway, you don’t hear Christmas carols on the street,” he said.
“It’s Navimáscara,” said the Daily Nation newspaper in Kenya, where the second wave of cases has abated and the short doctor’s strike ended on Christmas Eve. Celebrations were quiet in East Africa’s commercial center, as curfews prevented church vigils. The media said fewer people had also traveled to visit their families, which could limit the spread of the virus to rural populations who are even less equipped than cities to manage the outbreak.
In Paris, members of the Notre Dame choir, wearing helmets and protective suits – not against COVID-19, but for the works on the medieval monument destroyed by fire in 2019 – for the first time since the fire.
During a special Christmas Eve concert, accompanied by a famous cellist and a rented organ, the singers maintained a social distance to perform under the stained-glass windows in the darkened church, where dangerous debris removal work gives way to massive reconstruction tasks. . There was no public access and visits to the building are not expected until 2024.
In Rome, imprisonment measures prevented the faithful from gathering in St. Peter’s Square, where in other years thousands of people received a blessing from the Pope and heard his traditional Christmas message. But either way, they wouldn’t have been able to see Pope Francis. In response to a resurgence of the virus in Italy, the Pope had canceled his appearance on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and opted to spread his annual message on global issues from the Apostolic Palace.
In other places, Christmas was a difficult time. Thousands of drivers were stranded in their trucks in the English port of Dover because they had not been tested for the coronavirus that France was beginning to demand to cross the English Channel. Many seniors faced travel restrictions that prevented them from receiving visits from friends or family while on vacation.
In Spain, Álvaro Puig, 81, said he felt lonely and often depressed.
“Loneliness makes me sad and these holidays, instead of giving me joy, they make me sad, I hate them,” said Puig, who spent Christmas Eve alone with his rabbit.
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AP journalists around the world contributed to this report.