Mexican families scale down Christmas celebrations as pandemic ravages Mexico

Christmas presents are seen under a tree as members of the Romero family have a dinner on Christmas Eve, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Monterrey, Mexico December 24, 2020. Picture taken December 24, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

Families across Mexico scaled down Christmas festivities to avoid the spread of coronavirus, while others spent the holiday alone after having lost loved ones to the pandemic that has killed more than 120,000 in Mexico this year.

In Mexico City, 33-year-old street vendor Wendolin Garcia Ramos' apartment was decorated with festive Christmas lights and a decked-out tree. But she spent Christmas Eve alone after the pandemic claimed the lives of her fiancé, as well as his parents and his brother.

Members of the Romero family chat as they dine on Christmas Eve, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Monterrey, Mexico December 24, 2020. Picture taken December 24, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

"We had so many plans," she said as she wiped away tears, standing next to an altar of photographs of her lost loved ones. "This coming year we were planning on marrying," she said.

Marcela Hernandez and her husband, Juan Carlos Roque, held a small Christmas Eve dinner with their two children at their home in the State of Mexico.

Both parents are doctors, and their son is also studying medicine. They decided to video-call with the rest of their family members, rather than risk exposing them.

General surgeon Juan Carlos Roque and his wife Dr. Marcela Hernandez, both working with patients infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), make a toast with their sons before dinner on Christmas Eve, at her home in Ixtapaluca, on the outskirts of Mexico City, Mexico December 24, 2020. Picture taken December 24, 2020. REUTERS/Gustavo Graf

"It's so tragic in this moment how families are missing mothers, or fathers, or brothers, or children. How some families have been completely dismemebered," said Juan Carlos Roque, who on Thursday received one of the very first doses of the coronavirus vaccine administered in Mexico.

(Reporting by Laura Gottesdiener; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Lorenzo Ramirez is comforted by his son Jesus, during the funeral of his wife Laura Aguilar, who died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the San Rafael cemetery in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 24, 2020. Picture taken December 24, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Wendolin Garcia, who recovered from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and lost 4 family members due to the COVID-19, watches TV on Christmas Eve while her children sleep, at her home in the municipality of Iztalapa, in Mexico City, Mexico December 24, 2020. Picture taken December 24, 2020. REUTERS/Luis Cortes