Christmas celebrations continue across world despite shadow cast by Covid

Families and communities have been marking Christmas Day across the globe despite varying levels of coronavirus-related restrictions.

In South Korea, the toughest social distancing rules remained in place, requiring churches to accept a limited number of worshippers – 70% of their seating capacity – and attendees had to be fully vaccinated.

In Seoul’s Yoido Full Gospel Church, the country’s biggest Protestant church, thousands of masked worshippers sang hymns and prayed as the service was broadcast online. Many other churches across the country offered both in-person and online services.

South Korea has been grappling with soaring Covid-19 infections and deaths since it significantly eased its virus curbs in early November as part of efforts to return to pre-pandemic normality.

The country was eventually forced to restore its toughest distancing guidelines, such as a four-person limit on social gatherings and a 9pm curfew for restaurants and cafes.

The Delta variant remains the country’s dominant strain, but experts say the Omicron variant could overtake it within one or two months. As of Saturday, South Korea had confirmed 343 Omicron cases.

Christmas celebrations were subdued in much of India, with more decorations than crowds as people feared a new wave of the Omicron variant potentially sweeping the country in the coming weeks.

Authorities reintroduced night-time curfews and restrictions on gatherings of more than five people in big cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai. People attended midnight Mass in Mumbai and elsewhere but in smaller numbers.

Christians comprise just over 2% of India’s nearly 1.4 billion people.

New Zealanders celebrated Christmas in the warmth of mid-summer with few restrictions, in one of the few countries in the world largely untouched by the Omicron variant.

Ninety-five per cent of adults in New Zealand have had at least one dose of the vaccine, making it one of the world’s most vaccinated populations. The only Omicron cases that have been found in New Zealand have been safely contained at the border.

As Covid-19 spread around the world the past two years, New Zealand used its isolation to its advantage. Border controls kept the worst of the virus at bay and by Christmas this year, New Zealand had recorded 50 deaths in a population of 5.5 million.

In August, New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, was thrust into lockdown for 188 days. At its peak, the Delta-driven outbreak saw around 220 cases a day. Lately, the daily average has been around 50.

But that success has come at a cost. There were empty chairs at some tables this holiday season because some New Zealanders living and working overseas were not able to return home due to limits in the country’s managed isolation and quarantine programme.

The traditional dining tables of a northern winter — turkey and all the trimmings — are common in New Zealand. But Kiwis also celebrate in an Antipodean manner, with barbeques on beaches.

At New Zealand’s Scott Base in Antarctica, some New Zealanders enjoyed a white Christmas. During summer on the frozen continent, the sun never dips below the horizon and in 24 hours of daylight the temperature hovers around 0C (32F).

Around 200 people pass through the base over the summer season — scientists, support staff and Defense Force personnel who provide communications and other services. Numbers are lower this year because of the pandemic and all staff traveling to the continent have had to isolate and undergo Covid-19 testing before departure.

Most Pacific Island nations whose health systems might have been overwhelmed by Covid-19 outbreaks have largely managed to keep out the virus through strict border controls and high vaccination numbers.

Fiji has an ongoing outbreak and has had almost 700 deaths. About 92% of the adult population is now fully vaccinated, 97.7% have received at least one dose and many in the deeply religious nation will celebrate Christmas at traditional church services and family gatherings.

Health secretary James Fong, in a Christmas message, urged Fijians to “please celebrate wisely”.

In remote Macuata province, residents of four villages received a special Christmas gift: Electricity was connected to their villages for the first time.

Australia celebrated Christmas amid a surge of Covid-19 cases, worse than at any stage of the pandemic, which has forced states to reinstate mask mandates and other preventative measures. The Omicron strain is prevalent in some states and is estimated to represent more than 70% of all new cases in Queensland.

In his Christmas message, Prime Minister Scott Morrison referred to Covid-19’s toll on society.

“This pandemic, it continues to buffet us,” Mr Morrison said. “The Omicron variant is just the latest challenge that we have faced. But together, always together and only together, we keep pushing through.”

Summer heat might have discouraged outdoor Christmas feasts in some places. The temperature in Perth in Western Australia was expected to hit 42C (107F) on Saturday, making it the hottest Christmas since records began more than a century ago.