From Bethlehem and Frankfurt to London and Boston, the surging coronavirus dampened Christmas Eve festivities for a second year.
Plus, Thursday is expected to be the busiest travel day despite the COVID surge, and tips for working parents on navigating the holiday season.BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- From Bethlehem and Frankfurt to London and Boston, the surging coronavirus put a damper onEve for a second year, forcing churches to cancel or scale back services and disrupting travel plans and family gatherings.
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. Holiday travel was dealt a blow when major airlines canceled hundreds of flights amid staffing shortages largely tied to omicron.
At St. Paul’s Old Ford, an Anglican church in East London, priests planned to hold services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But to protect parishioners, the church called off its Nativity play. While the number of faithful was far more than the 200 allowed in last year, it was a fraction of the 20,000 the basilica can seat. Before the pandemic, St. Peter's was routinely packed for midnight Mass.
“We are just meeting with some small groups of family for the next few days,” Marloes Jansen, who was waiting in line to buy the traditional Dutch kerststol, a Christmas bread with fruits and nuts.
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