Will you celebrate Christmas this year? With whom and how? As the virus is still actively spreading in France, the French are wondering how the Holidays will unfold. As for the WHO, they addressed the matter on November 23, 2020, and said curtailed Christmas, without big family reunions was the safest solution.
“This is incredibly difficult because especially during holidays... we really want to be with family but in some situations, the difficult decision not to have that family gathering is the safest bet” WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove said.
The question is if French will follow this piece of advice. According to a recent survey, 92% of the French say they want to celebrate the Holidays even more.
Many of them hope derogatory trip certificates will no longer be needed for their Holidays so that they can travel around the country and meet their families. Emmanuel Macron is expected to tell more on that this Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. during a new televised address.
In the meantime, the United-States of America will be closely scrutinized. Americans are about to celebrate Thanksgiving – November 26, 2020. Staple family holiday, it makes people fear a dramatic increase in new Covid-19 cases in the country. Then, according to WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove, celebrating Thanksgiving via video-conference could be a solution. “Even if you can't celebrate together this year, you can find ways to celebrate when this is all over”.
As for WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan, he raised a question: “have you got the disease under enough control to start with, and can you allow people a little bit more freedom over the Christmas period which generates a sense of confidence and joy in the community, which people need right now, without letting the virus let rip again?”
