“Dear Santa, I don’t want any Christmas gifts, but I want you to do me a favor: Can you find a cure for COVID-19 and give it to us to save the world? Thank you. Recently, Jonah from the United States finally sent a letter to Santa Claus. However, he did not make a wish to get his favorite gift as usual.
At present, the COVID-19 situation in many countries around the world is becoming more and more serious, and European and American celebrations for Christmas and New Year have to be held or even cancelled. And the “Santa Clauses”, the “workers” who only start work in December of each year, have also become high-risk professionals and are at risk of spreading the virus.
The Christmas gifts that children want are…
Kimberly, a 13-year-old girl from Texas, secretly made wishes for her parents in a letter to Santa Claus. She hopes that parents can receive waterproof jackets and fitness equipment as Christmas gifts.
Due to the epidemic, Kimberly’s stepfather can’t work full-time, and his small salary is all used to pay rent and bills. “I wanted to surprise them with everything they did this year,” she wrote.
From the girl’s letter, it seems that the impact of the epidemic on the economy can be seen. In October, the International Monetary Fund predicted that the global economy would decline by 4.4% in 2020, the worst recession after the Great Depression in the 1930s. The U.S. Department of Labor said on December 23 that the recovery of the U.S. job market remained stagnating, and more than 20 million Americans needed assistance to make a living.
The reality makes the children’s year also quite difficult. Many children can’t go to school and play with friends outdoors. They even have to starve because of the interruption of their family’s financial resources. They even have to bear psychological shocks as their loved ones die of the novel coronavirus.” The pandemic has had a serious impact on children,” CNN noted.
“My grandfather passed away, I missed him and I miss him and his hugs because of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Lily, 11, from Maine, sadly said in a letter to the Santa Claus couple.
“Sometimes, parents don’t even mention these things or talk to them (children) about the financial hardships they face, but children can see it.” “U.S. clinical psychologist Erlanger Turner, who specializes in parenting and child behavior,” said. At the same time, psychologists point out that the stressors of the epidemic are harming children’s mental health. In a social distancing environment, children are suffering from loneliness, anxiety and other emotions.
“Santa Claus” has become a high-risk occupation
Under such circumstances, will “Santa Claus” come again? After writing the letter to Santa Claus, the children began to look forward nervously.
In mid-December, Maria van Kohoff, technical director of WHO’s health emergency program, once reassured children that despite the age of “Santa”, he could still travel around the world and distribute gifts on Christmas because of his “immunization to the novel coronavirus.”
“We had a brief conversation with him and he was in great shape.” Kohoff said, but she stressed that children should not forget to socially distance themselves with “Santa Claus”.
Fauci, an American infectious disease expert, said more bluntly that he had personally vaccinated Santa Claus against the novel coronavirus. “Don’t worry about it.”
But behind the white lies told to children are concerns of health experts about Christmas holidays or exacerbating the epidemic. Before Christmas, relaxing vigilance and violating epidemic prevention measures have led to many tragedies.
In Belgium, a man dressed as “Santa Claus” was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus after visiting a nursing home. At that time, the nursing home also tested 75 people diagnosed and one person died of the novel coronavirus. It is not ruled out that the outbreak is related to it. In Georgia, the United States, two “Santa Claus” were diagnosed in mid-December, and several They just hugged with more than 50 children a day ago…
“We are almost all old, almost all of us are obese, and almost all have some kind of health problem. Diabetes, breathing problems, you can think of it.” Stephen Arnold, 70, said. He is from Memphis, USA, and has been playing “Santa Claus” for decades.
Originally, “Santa Claus” belonged to a high-risk group and were vulnerable to COVID-19, and participating in festivals or going to major occasions may further aggravate the spread of the virus.
In addition, in recent days, more infectious mutant viruses have been discovered in many countries around the world, causing the risk of epidemic spreading to soar. Many governments and health experts have called on people to avoid unnecessary travel during the holiday.
“Unprecedented” Christmas
In previous Christmas, the “Santa Claus Village” located in the far north snow in Finland has long been crowded with tourists. A large number of tourists will “search” for reindeer sleighs, snow castles and Santa Claus.
But now, the “wonderful world” of this winter is no longer in the past, and the “Santa Claus” stay in a stone cottage and after the epidemic prevention board, talking about this year’s “abnormality and hardship”.
In Germany, although some cities plan to hold a “down version” Christmas market, as the government tightens epidemic prevention measures on December 13, the lively scene of people watching merry-go-rounds and tasting red wine and delicious food in front of the market stalls no longer exists.
Christmas in England is even worse. The spread of mutant COVID-19 is “out of control”, and London and other places entered the highest level of epidemic prevention and control on the 20th, almost “lockdown”. It has become a luxury for people to reunite with their families across the city during the Christmas holiday.
In France, some families have decided to “skip” Christmas and wait for July 2021 to party to celebrate. Some people believe that by then, the weather will warm up and people may have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
In addition, Italy will “partially close down” to prevent the spread of the epidemic; South Korea has announced a number of special epidemic prevention measures for Christmas and New Year’s holidays…
As the British Guardian said in an article, “smaller and simpler celebrations may be the real gift for us”. While strengthening the fight against the epidemic and doing a good job in social isolation, vaccines are the gifts people need most.
