Yet another Christmas in the shadow of Covid-19

For the followers of Christ, Christmas is a magical time of goodwill and giving back; they can feel it when it comes every year.

People want to celebrate the day as much as possible, with friends, family, and community, and sing along to the songs of joy.

Filled up with so much love, family and friends get together. They gather around illuminated Christmas decorations and trees, toast and pray.

Fed up with the pandemic, this year, many wanted to go ahead with their celebrations with the help of safety measures like vaccines and wearing masks in public as Bangladesh has seen a decline in Covid cases in recent weeks.

However, like last year, Christians in Bangladesh will have to celebrate their biggest religious festival Saturday with restrictions and limitations.

The biblical town of Bethlehem is also gearing up for its second straight Christmas Eve hit by the pandemic with small crowds and grey, gloomy.

Musicians banging drums and playing bagpipes marched through Bethlehem Friday to the delight of smaller than usual crowds – a mix of conviviality and restraint reflected in celebrations around the world on a Christmas Eve dampened once again by Covid-19.

Local authorities were counting on the Holy Land’s small Christian community to lift spirits.

It was a theme seen around the world as revellers, weary from nearly two years of lockdowns and safety restrictions, searched for ways to return to rituals that were called off last year, while still celebrating safely.

Celebrations in Europe, where infections are surging in many countries, were also more subdued – but forging ahead.

In Bangladesh, the government has urged people to celebrate Christmas Day on a limited scale due to the pandemic.

All religious and social programmes are being arranged on a very limited scale worldwide due to Covid-19, and the religious festivals of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists were celebrated in Bangladesh on a limited scale, maintaining health guidelines, the Home Ministry said on 14 December.

The ministry also asked law enforcers and local administrations to maintain law and order and ensure health protocols across the country after holding meetings with the authorities concerned in the upazilas, districts and metropolitan cities if needed.

However, Christians have decorated churches and set up Christmas trees at homes and places of worship across the country.

Christmas carols and hymns will be sung before and after the prayer sessions at the churches.

Church priests have taken safety measures such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and using hand sanitiser.

Christmas is the only Christian festival in Bangladesh to enjoy a public holiday.

Every household, every country has had to deal with the impact of the pandemic. There has been pain this year, but it is time to let it go and say: “Merry Christmas, everyone.”