Toned-down fun for Year of the Ox: Pandemic puts damper in Lunar New Year
Across the world the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Lunar New Year celebrations to go virtual or be canceled, and officials are urging people to stay home as the calendar marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox.
New York City is holding a virtual Lunar New Year celebration and postponing the parade that attracts thousands each year. The organizers are asking people not to come down to the city’s Chinatown to celebrate. Friday is Chinese lunar New Year Day.
South Korean officials have urged the public to maintain vigilance and stay at home during the four-day Lunar New Year’s holidays that began Thursday. Millions of people were expected to travel across the country to visit hometowns and return home during the holidays.
South Korea reported 504 new coronavirus cases for the latest 24-hour period. It is the highest daily jump in about two weeks, raising worries about a potential surge. In recent weeks, the nation’s caseload had displayed a gradual downward trajectory largely thanks to stringent distancing rules such as a ban on social gatherings of five or more people.
China appeared to be on pace for a slower than normal Lunar New Year travel rush this year after authorities discouraged people from traveling over the holiday to help maintain the nation’s control over the ongoing pandemic.
In the Philippines, raucous dragon dance shows have been banned in Manila’s Chinatown due to the pandemic, casting aside a crowd-drawing Lunar New Year tradition many believe helps drive misfortunes away.
The Philippine government’s ban on large public gatherings and street parties to fight the coronavirus dealt a big blow to hundreds of dragon dancers and production crews who are struggling to find other sources of income.
“There would have been large crowds wanting to drive away the misery and bad luck, but our street dance shows were prohibited this year,” said Therry Sicat, a Filipino slum-dweller who with his siblings manages one of several dragon dance troupes in Chinatown.
The absence of the dragon dances is a palpable sign for many Manila residents that the pandemic crisis that shut down much of Manila’s economy and locked down millions of Filipinos in their homes is spilling over well into this year. But Sicat, his siblings and their families are fighting to keep the Chinese tradition — and their livelihood — alive.
After the dragon dances were banned by Manila’s mayor, Sicat and his family used their Styrofoam, paint and other dragon costume-making materials to craft decorative miniature Chinese-style lion heads instead. The colorful items have become a hit online and fill their small creek-side home with hope and joy. About 200 have been sold so far, priced at 1,500 pesos ($30) each, he said.
“There’s no Chinese New Year, but we are all healthy. We can survive this pandemic,” Sicat said.
