Covid-19 overshadows Christmas celebrations

The rise of the Omicron variant heralded another pandemic-tinged Christmas for billions.Festive jokes about reindeer having "herd immunity" and millions isolating "Home Alone" may be wearing thin, but the emergence of the ultra-infectious Omicron variant means the pandemic is not going away anytime soon. In Bethlehem's Manger Square, visitors in Santa hats and scouts beating drums marked Christmas Eve on Friday, but numbers were lower than usual as coronavirus fears overshadowed celebrations for a second straight year. The city where Christians believe Jesus was born is usually a focal point of the holiday, with thousands packing the streets and filling hotels. But Israel, which controls all entrances to Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, barred its borders to foreigners in an effort to rein in infections from the Omicron strain of the coronavirus. Last year, Bethlehem curtailed celebrations sharply because of the pandemic, with a virtual tree lighting and just a handful of visiting scouts.

In Europe, governments have reimposed misery-inducing safety measures that are draining the fun from Christmas for many. In the Vatican, Pope Francis during the traditional Christmas Eve mass from St Peter's Basilica encouraged people to appreciate "the little things in life".He also urged against "offending God's love, hurting him by despising the poor with our indifference".The Netherlands is back in lockdown while Spain and Italy have made wearing masks compulsory outdoors. And with Britain hitting a record high number of Covid-19 infections again on Friday for a third day in a row, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested getting a vaccine booster shot as a Christmas gift for relatives. France notched up record positive cases for the second day in a row and its health authorities urged people to get booster shots just three months after initial jabs, down from the current five. Most Australians are allowed to travel interstate over the festive break for the first time in two years, with Sydney's Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher saying that Christmas was "a ray of light" in dark times.