Christmas celebrated under shadow of virus

VATICAN CITY－Christmas festivities began on Friday with hundreds of millions across the world under coronavirus restrictions celebrating a pared-down version of a holiday typically marked by travel and large gatherings.

The battle to halt the pandemic, which has claimed more than 1.7 million lives, is far from over despite the launching of mass vaccine campaigns that offer the promise of an eventual return to normalcy.

Churches across South Korea stood largely empty, with worshippers congregating online as the country reported its highest daily number of coronavirus cases on Friday.

The nation has been held up as a model of how to combat the virus, with the public largely following official guidelines, but Friday saw a record 1,241 new infections.

"It really is heartbreaking to see," said Park Jae-woo, a member of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul which would usually expect up to 10,000 worshippers, but on Friday was only able to welcome 15 staff and choir members.

In Catholic-majority the Philippines, services were rocked when a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the country, capping off a troubled yuletide already muted by bans on parties and carol singing.

Despite warm weather, the usual picnicking crowds also avoided the sands of Sydney's Bondi Beach. The waves were empty of surfing Santas and patrolling police officers enforced social distancing rules.

Pope Francis celebrated Christmas Eve mass in St Peter's Basilica before fewer than 200 masked faithful, mostly employees of the tiny state of Vatican City.

The mass, traditionally held at midnight, had been moved forward by two hours to meet Italy's curfew rules.

Before the pandemic hit, several thousand believers and tourists would scramble to get precious tickets to attend the papal mass.

New restrictions in Italy

Tough new coronavirus restrictions were imposed on Thursday over the Christmas and New Year period across Italy, the country hardest hit by the virus in Europe, with nearly 71,000 deaths and more than two million cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

In war-ravaged northeast Syria, hundreds of residents of a predominantly Christian neighborhood in the town of Qamishli ditched face masks and donned Santa hats, throwing caution to the wind to celebrate a Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

"We were concerned celebrations would be canceled this year due to the novel coronavirus, but as you can see everyone is here celebrating and we are happy," said Maria Danhou, a 36-year-old mother of two.

Germany has been forced to cancel its famous Christmas markets. In Kuwait, churches were closed until January 10 despite being home to a large Christian community.

For many, the isolation that has defined the past year will continue into Christmas Day and beyond－such as in Belgium, where residents are largely limited to welcoming a single visitor.

People in the United Kingdom, meanwhile, were cut off from swathes of the world due to the emergence of a new COVID-19 strain.

The United States will require airline passengers from Britain to get a negative COVID-19 test before their flight.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the order was scheduled to be signed on Friday and go into effect on Monday. It is the latest country to announce new travel restrictions because of the new variant that is spreading in Britain.

Some UK border restrictions have been temporarily relaxed for the holidays, but thousands from other European countries are still stranded in England.

"Home for Christmas? Forget it," said Laurent Beghin, a French truck driver who delivered his cargo but was still stuck days later.

The new variant of the coronavirus has been found in Germany, authorities of the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg said in a tweet on Thursday. The infected person flew to Frankfurt from Britain on Dec 20 to visit relatives and tested positive upon arrival.

Three Latin American countries launched mass immunization programs on Thursday as fears grew in Europe over the variant coronavirus strain that is believed to be far more contagious than the original version.

Frontline medical staff in Mexico and Chile were among the first to receive their vaccines while Costa Rica began its own immunization program, with President Carlos Alvarado hailing what "may be the beginning of the end of this pandemic".

Agencies via Xinhua