FILE - Pastry Chef and owner of Averof Patisserie, Marios Papadopoulos poses with his Easter chocolate bunny the ''Coronavirus doctor bunnies'' with face masks, vaccines and representation of the Covid-19 pandemic molecule in Thessaloniki, Greece on …
LOS ANGELES - While most Americans will be staying inside this Easter Sunday as the country grapples with a new reality under widespread lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone is getting a little extra clever and thinking outside the egg this spring holiday season.
Families forced to separate due to social distancing guidelines were brought together on Passover this week by video chat services. For people still keen on finding their Easter eggs, social distancing is taking the hunt online.
2020 Easter egg hunters go virtual
Nationwide closures didn’t stop one Texas church from hosting its annual Easter Egg scavenger hunt. What better way than with the popular video game, Minecraft?
Tate Springs Baptist Church in Arlington used the video game to bring kids in for its weekly Bible study and created its own server to stop trolls from hacking into the game and disrupting service.
Zoo Atlanta in Georgia said it will stream its annual Gorilla Egg Hunt on Facebook, featuring its beloved gorillas hunting for sugar-free Jell-O eggs and other treasures.“We didn't think you should have to miss out just because the Zoo is closed,” the zoo wrote.
In Colorado, the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, approximately 68 miles north of Denver, normally hosts its annual egg hunt by hiding candy-filled eggs around its facilities.
This year, you don’t have to trek to the Rockies in order to participate in their virtual egg hunt. YMCA Rockies posted a photo on their Instagram with dozens of colorful illustrated eggs for followers to find.
For families still looking for another clever way to host an egg hunt, Zoom has been a valuable resource for social connection. While you may not be able to go outside, it is still possible to host a Zoom meeting with a handful of Easter eggs hidden in the background.
Self-isolation gives Easter a new look
With everyone adapting to a new way of celebrating Easter during quarantine, that means the baskets and the chocolate bunnies may look a bit different this year.
One user posted a photo on Twitter of a basket full of high-demand pandemic items wrapped up, including hand sanitizer, clorox wipes and toilet paper with the caption, “Easter basket idea...”
Another user tweeted a photo of their quarantine Easter basket, featuring cleaning products and chocolate.
“When your Easter basket consists of makeup wipes, hand sanitizer and York peppermint patties,” they wrote.
Someone else posted a picture of their Easter basket, consisting of candy and toilet paper.
Easter Sunday is normally the most important date on the chocolate makers' calendar. But the novel coronavirus pandemic, with its lockdowns and social distancing, has struck a hard blow to the 5-billion-euro ($5.5-billion) industry that's one of Belgium's most emblematic.
Some producers, like Persoone's famed The Chocolate Line, offer Easter eggs or bunnies in medical masks, while the country’s top virologist has jokingly granted a lockdown pass to the “essential” furry workers traditionally supposed to bring kids their Easter eggs.
Master Belgian chocolatier Dominique Persoone has tried to use humor as a remedy for these tough times using white chocolate as medical masks for his delicious bunnies, which has now become a common trend among many chocolatiers this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.