The grinch has met his match in Covid, who will steal Christmas this year? The public is blue to hear that some Covid restrictions are being put back in place leaving uncertainty about the fate of Christmas. 

 

After last year’s washout, England was hoping for compensation but it seems the government has not delivered. The travel restrictions are especially worrying.  A friend of mine, CC, tells me ‘I feel being stuck in the same city for so long is really affecting mental health, and what I would give for a break abroad?’.  MEB says she ‘is devastated to not be able to see her family again for Christmas this year in Uganda. Travel restrictions are making me feel less connected to my family’. It is evident that not being able to easily travel is affecting mental health and families not only in the UK but worldwide. YA and EB agree that one of the hardest parts of the pandemic is separation from family, especially at Christmas. ES was planning on spending Christmas with her parents but they are now worried about getting infected via a big city relative and have chosen to shelter. She feels ‘saddened’ about being apart and ‘concerned with the very real possibility that [they’ll] never spend Christmas together again’.

 

News of the new omicron variant has brought other seasonal festivities to a halt. With Covid cases on the rise, many people are anxious about what this means in terms of gathering in large groups, including Christmas shopping and family meals. 

 

However, DE and GW are hopeful that this is only temporary and we will be celebrating all together once more soon, claiming it's ‘just one Christmas for many more'.


 

Subjects have been referred to in initials due to personal confidentiality preferences.