COVID-19 pandemic puts a damper on Xmas Eve again around the world
London: From Bethlehem and Frankfurt to London and Boston, the surging coronavirus put a damper on Christmas Eve for a second year, forcing churches to cancel or scale back services and disrupting travel plans and family gatherings.
Drummers and bagpipers marched through Bethlehem to smaller than usual crowds after new Israeli travel restrictions meant to slow the highly contagious omicron variant kept international tourists away from the town where Jesus is said to have been born.
In Germany, a line wound halfway around Cologne's massive cathedral, not for midnight Mass but for vaccinations. The offer of shots was an expression of care for one's neighbor that was consistent with the message of Christmas, cathedral provost Guido Assmann told the DPA news agency.
Around the world, people weary from nearly two years of lockdowns and other restrictions searched for ways to safely enjoy holiday rituals.
We can't let the virus take our lives from us when we're healthy, said Rosalia Lopes, a retired Portuguese government worker who was doing some last-minute shopping in the coastal town of Cascais.
She said she and her family were exhausted by the pandemic and determined to go ahead with their celebrations with the help of vaccines and booster shots, rapid home tests and mask-wearing in public. She planned a traditional Portuguese Christmas Eve dinner of baked cod.
In New York City, where omicron has spread widely, people waited in long lines to get tested, many doing so as a precaution before traveling to reunite with family.
But holiday travel was dealt a blow when major airlines canceled hundreds of flights amid staffing shortages largely tied to omicron. Sadia Reins arrived in New York City from Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday to be with with her 75-year-old mother. Reins said the two haven't spent Christmas together in two years, and despite the risks in traveling during the outbreak, she couldn't bear to be apart from her mother again this year.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden brought some Christmas Eve cheer to hospitalised children who aren't well enough to go home for the holidays.
It's longstanding tradition for first ladies to visit Children's National Hospital at Christmas time, but Joe Biden's visit on Friday was a surprise. It marked the first time that a sitting president had joined the fun, the White House said.
It wasn't the only tradition that the president joined in
on Friday.
