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Monday, December 14, 2020
Complicated set of rules
This is how Germans can celebrate Christmas
Who spends Christmas days with whom? You have to plan especially well this year. There is no fixed limit of people on holidays. But there are strict rules that must be observed as to who can join. Church restrictions also apply.
Pandemic Christmas days won’t be as limited as before and after closing times, but they will be tough. So complicated that even the heads of government who helped set the rules can hardly explain it.
Specifically, according to the joint decision of the Federal Chancellor and the 16 Prime Ministers, a family reunion with four other people should be possible from December 24 to 26. These four people must come from the closest family circle: “spouses, civil partners and partners in a civil society, as well as heterosexual relatives, siblings, brothers and their respective members of the household.”
Therefore, there is no fixed upper limit of people, after all, the size of the household involved and the number of children are not fixed. In the end, “more than two households or 5 people over the age of 14” could be together, according to the resolution. Children under the age of 14 are generally not included in the number restrictions.
Church services, without which Christmas is hardly imaginable for many people, can take place, but only with very strong restrictions. This includes the prohibition of singing. In addition, the minimum distance of 1.5 meters between the faithful must be respected and masks must be worn. Registration is required if the expected number of visitors is too high. In the coming days, even more precise rules will be determined in discussions with religious communities.
According to its resolution on Sunday, federal states should enact Christmas rules “depending on their respective infection rates.” Therefore, changes and differences from one state to another are to be expected. Saxony-Anhalt has already announced that it will deviate from Christmas relaxations. It remains that a maximum of five people can meet at Christmas, Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff said. “We do not see any relaxation as justified at the moment,” said the head of government.
Wherever they come, the relaxations go into effect for Christmas only. By New Year’s Eve, the strict restriction to a maximum of five people from two households should apply nationwide.
