The World Health Organization (WHO) has told Europeans they should wear masks when meeting friends and family over the Christmas period, after previously recommending having a picnic in the park on December 25th to stop the spread of the Chinese coronavirus.
The WHO’s European office said in a briefing paper on Wednesday that Christians should consider “postponing or reducing” religious processions and church celebrations.
“Regardless of location, religious services should take place differently this year. They should be held outdoors whenever possible or be limited in size and duration, with physical distancing, ventilation, hand hygiene and mask use, as appropriate,” the WHO said.
Germany announced that it would go into a strict lockdown this week, with Chancellor Angela Merkel urging her citizens not to attend church. Merkel has also warned against people Christmas shopping and has banned the sale of fireworks to curtail New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The globalist health body also recommended that indoor gatherings — small parties of family and friends — “should be held outside if possible, and participants should wear masks and maintain physical distancing”.
The organisation also suggested that people should offer to not visit older and vulnerable relatives or friends, to save them the anxiety and discomfort of spending the holidays with loved ones and risking catching the Chinese virus.
While Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted pressure to reverse his decision to let Britons have five days of freedom over the holy period, he has advised Britons to avoid elderly relatives, until 2021 when they have been vaccinated.
This is not the first time the World Health Organization has asked Europeans to make extreme sacrifices or adjustments to their holiday plans. Last month, it recommended people skip the Christmas dinner in the warmth of their homes, to instead have a picnic in the park.
Earlier this week, several British scientists were determined to discourage as many Britons as possible from enjoying a normal Christmas, and opt instead to hold it at a later date, which would, however, not be Christmas.
John Edmunds of the influential government Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said people should “postpone meeting up with vulnerable relatives for another month or two”, until more vaccinations had been given out. While Robert West, of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B), said they should simply replace Christmas with “a summer family get-together”.
While the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, claimed that “Easter can be the new Christmas.”
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