World celebrates Christmas like nothing else, under the shadow of a pandemic News pandemic coronavirus

Global Christmas celebrations are taking place amid a pandemic of coronavirus, with millions of people limiting feasts in an effort to spread further.

Many spend Christmas mourning, after the health crisis of life claimed 1.7 million people so far this year.

We take a look at how different countries celebrate the holidays.

In a Palestinian city Bethlehem, people would celebrate Christmas Eve with very few people attending the traditional events. But town leaders said they were determined to send a message of hope.

“There are restrictions on the movement of people and on social networks but it is Christmas, Christmas gives people hope for better times,” said Mayor Anton Salman, standing by the big Christmas tree. in Manger Square.

“So we are celebrating the holidays in every way, the only thing that is needed at this stage is the large crowd, as it used to be in previous years, but People in Bethlehem are hoping for a better future. “

In Lebanon, the government took most of the virus measures ahead of the holidays, hoping to stimulate the economy. Tens of thousands of Lebanese expatriates arrived home for the holidays, but there were fears this could cause a surgeon in cases at Christmas time.

Lebanon has the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East – around a third of its 5 million people – and traditionally celebrates Christmas with much waiting.

Egypt has suspended the celebration of the New Year to halt the rise in affairs.

At the same time, European events have been severely postponed or interrupted by the rise of viral diseases across the continent amid fears of a new, more contagious change.

in the United Kingdom, people welcomed Christmas Eve with a Brexit trade deal, news of relief and, with some, some skepticism.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson posted a video on his Twitter account delivering his Christmas message. Shaking the thick stack of papers reporting on the Brexit trade deal with the European Union (EU) in front of the cameras, Johnson said it was “a small gift for anyone who could afford it. looking for something to read in that sleepy moment after Christmas “.

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. pic.twitter.com/DofRkb4Ivc

– Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 24 December 2020

The Queen’s annual Christmas lecture is due to be broadcast on Friday at 15:00 GMT.

In Italy, church bells were heard earlier than usual. The Italian government’s curfew urged 10pm (09: 00GMT) pastors to move services up, with a “midnight” mass beginning Thursday afternoon in some churches as early as an hour or two after dark.

Pope Francis, just celebrating his 84th birthday, fell in line and held a mass in the back section of St. Peter’s Basilica with less than 100 participants and only a small number of cardinals. and bishops.

In Greece, Christmas Eve was quietly silent. At normal times, children’s voices are heard singing hymns as they throw metal triangles throughout the day. The decade-old practice, in which children go home and receive small gifts, has been banned this year.

Groups of children honored the tradition by singing to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with a video link – including students from a school for hearing-impaired children who played in sign language.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Germans to visit family members over Christmas and use video calls instead for greetings, as overseas service members do, as the country does. fighting COVID. Germany struggling with an increase in coronavirus infections and deaths.

In South Korea, People woke up on Christmas morning to find that their coronavirus crisis has taken another turn for the worse when officials stopped ski resorts and national parks, restricted hotel residences and imposed fines. on restaurants that accept large groups to carry out a viral attack on property and deaths.

The country has previously been held as a model on how to fight the virus, with the population largely following official guidelines, but on Friday 1,241 new infections were higher.

“We strongly recommend and request that you cancel your meetings and gatherings, even with members of your immediate family,” said Yoon Tae-ho of the Central Disaster Management Headquarters.

In China, authorities in the northeastern port city of Dalian are testing millions of residents after seven new coronavirus cases were reported there in the past 24 hours.

This collection that has emerged in the last few days has grown to 12 cases. In five neighborhood divisions, authorities have closed schools and public places and are restricting anyone but essential workers from leaving their residential premises.

Beijing has also issued a major warning after two asymptomatic cases were reported on Thursday, as well as two cases that were confirmed last week.

In Australia, Millions of Sydney residents have been asked to limit their mobility over the Christmas holidays, with some families in lock-in gatherings and a festival limited to 10 indoor visitors.

Australia’s largest-inhabited city has been largely off the rest of the country with state border closures or a mandatory 14-day quarantine for arrival in Sydney.

“Please stop your move,” New South Wales (NSW) chief of staff Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

“Other than those close-knit family gatherings we allowed during the Christmas holidays, we don’t want people to move around until you’re real.”

in the United States, Americans are celebrating a gloomy Christmas as coronavirus diseases spread across the country. Political leaders warned people not to travel or gather in large groups.

More than a million people have received the first of two doses of vaccine since Dec. 14, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Getting herd protection against the virus may require up to 90 percent of Americans, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the most prominent infectious disease expert in the U.S., told the New York Times in an interview .

Mexico on Thursday the first man filed against COVID-19. The Pfizer vaccine was given to 59-year-old nurse Maria Irene Ramirez, chief nurse at the intensive care unit of Ruben Lenero hospital in Mexico City.

“This is the best gift I could have received in 2020,” said Ramirez, adding that it would strengthen her to continue the “war” on pandemic. spread.

Chile the first 10,000 doses of the 10 million prescription of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were received Thursday, with inoculations of health workers expected to begin immediately.

In Costa Rica, health workers delivered the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine to a pair of elderly people in a home near the capital, San Jose, while some 300,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine reached Argentina.

“My message is that everyone should get the vaccine,” said Jorge De Ford, a 72-year-old former university professor who was one of the first two in Costa Rica to receive the injection.

At the same time, enter Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro used his Christmas message to further cast doubt on a coronavirus vaccine purchased by one of the country ‘s states, from the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac.

In his live broadcast on social media Thursday, Bolsonaro said “the effectiveness of that vaccine of Sao Paulo appears to be very low,” although he did not add specific details.

To date Brazil has no agreements to introduce vaccines made by Pfizer or Moderna, which have been agreed with the US and other countries. They have a contract to secure up to 100 million doses of the vaccine that could be made by AstraZeneca.

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