coronavirus,
Ethan Howard’s car is full to the brim with presents for family members, as he prepares to drive to NSW’s Central Coast to see his family. His Christmas plans were dashed following COVID-19 travel restrictions for areas of Greater Sydney, Wollongong and the Central Coast. But changes to ACT’s public health direction on January 12 have given the ANU student an opportunity to reunite with his family. While Christmas may have come late, Mr Howard and his family are eager for their reunion. “They are very excited… Mum’s kept the tree up so we can have a nice little Christmas,” he said. Mr Howard moved to Canberra in 2018 to study and he travels home regularly. However, he has not seen his family since early in December last year. Christmas 2020 was poised to be particularly special, the first for his niece Sawyer. “I’m definitely excited to see my baby niece and see her open her presents,” he said. Mr Howard is also excited to see his grandparents Lou and Eileen again. He says his grandmother has recently struggled with her health. “I know she was very sad to only see me on camera on Christmas Day,” he said. “She doesn’t actually know I’m coming home so she’ll be a little bit surprised.” Mr Howard said he had tried to be positive despite the sudden changes to travel restrictions. “Talking to Mum, I knew she was quite upset over the phone, her voice was breaking up,” she said. “I was just trying to be like ‘It’s OK, keep positive’. “When we realised it wasn’t going to happen I just said to her ‘It’s just going to be a little bit different this year’.” Mr Howard said his briefly joined family celebrations through FaceTime, but it didn’t replace real-life interaction with his family. “We tend to have a big breakfast, so we might do bacon, eggs, a fry up on the barbie. “I think my mum will probably get some prawns, she knows that was one thing I was sad about missing out on Christmas Day. “On Christmas Eve, my family will usually go walking around the neighbourhood and have a look at the Christmas decorations. “We’ll take the dogs and everything and usually go in our pyjamas.” “I was going to go and take a look at Canberra’s lights but that night both of my roommates were busy. We never got around to it. Despite being unable to spend Christmas Day with his loved ones, Mr Howard found solidarity from fellow Christmas ‘orphans’ in Canberra, affected by the travel restrictions. “It was almost nice in a way to know that there were a lot of people who were supporting each other, to get through it,” he said. Mr Howard just hopes his sacrifices were worth it. “You’ve just got to take all the precautions that you can,” he said. “Hopefully those decisions that were made will have a good effect. “I’m hardly the worst person affected. “During the pandemic I managed to keep a hold of where I was living so I’m very thankful. “Not to be able to see family for a month, I mean, it’s nowhere near as bad as what happened in Victoria. “It gave me a very small taste of what people are going through.”
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Ethan Howard’s car is full to the brim with presents for family members, as he prepares to drive to NSW’s Central Coast to see his family.
His Christmas plans were dashed following COVID-19 travel restrictions for areas of Greater Sydney, Wollongong and the Central Coast.
But changes to ACT’s public health direction on January 12 have given the ANU student an opportunity to reunite with his family.
While Christmas may have come late, Mr Howard and his family are eager for their reunion.
“They are very excited… Mum’s kept the tree up so we can have a nice little Christmas,” he said.
Mr Howard moved to Canberra in 2018 to study and he travels home regularly.
However, he has not seen his family since early in December last year.
Christmas 2020 was poised to be particularly special, the first for his niece Sawyer.
“I’m definitely excited to see my baby niece and see her open her presents,” he said.
Mr Howard is also excited to see his grandparents Lou and Eileen again.
He says his grandmother has recently struggled with her health.
“I know she was very sad to only see me on camera on Christmas Day,” he said.
“She doesn’t actually know I’m coming home so she’ll be a little bit surprised.”
Mr Howard said he had tried to be positive despite the sudden changes to travel restrictions.
“Talking to Mum, I knew she was quite upset over the phone, her voice was breaking up,” she said.
“I was just trying to be like ‘It’s OK, keep positive’.
“When we realised it wasn’t going to happen I just said to her ‘It’s just going to be a little bit different this year’.”
Mr Howard said his briefly joined family celebrations through FaceTime, but it didn’t replace real-life interaction with his family.
“We tend to have a big breakfast, so we might do bacon, eggs, a fry up on the barbie.
“I think my mum will probably get some prawns, she knows that was one thing I was sad about missing out on Christmas Day.
“On Christmas Eve, my family will usually go walking around the neighbourhood and have a look at the Christmas decorations.
“We’ll take the dogs and everything and usually go in our pyjamas.”
“I was going to go and take a look at Canberra’s lights but that night both of my roommates were busy. We never got around to it.
Despite being unable to spend Christmas Day with his loved ones, Mr Howard found solidarity from fellow Christmas ‘orphans’ in Canberra, affected by the travel restrictions.
“It was almost nice in a way to know that there were a lot of people who were supporting each other, to get through it,” he said.
Mr Howard just hopes his sacrifices were worth it.
“You’ve just got to take all the precautions that you can,” he said.
“Hopefully those decisions that were made will have a good effect.
“I’m hardly the worst person affected.
“During the pandemic I managed to keep a hold of where I was living so I’m very thankful.
“Not to be able to see family for a month, I mean, it’s nowhere near as bad as what happened in Victoria.
“It gave me a very small taste of what people are going through.”
