Celebrate holidays at home this year, medical officer urges
WATERLOO REGION — This holiday season, people are urged to celebrate safely to avoid COVID-19 spreading like wildfire.
“While our traditions may look a little different this year, we can still celebrate. By celebrating apart, you can help protect yourself and loved ones,” Waterloo Region’s medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said during Friday’s COVID-19 briefing.
Wang echoed the advice the province put out earlier this week about celebrating the holidays: keep in-person celebrations within one household.
“Protect yourself and your loved ones this holiday season by celebrating in person with only with your immediate household members. Or if you live alone, you may join one other household,” Wang said.
She urged people to not attend or organize large family dinners or gatherings with people outside their immediate household.
“I understand that this is challenging. Many of us were hoping not to have to spend the holidays this way and are feeling frustrated and tired of having to stay apart from others,” Wang said. “But, if given the opportunity, COVID-19 will spread like wildfire and we know that it spreads easily indoors and in close-contact interactions.”
She said that’s what is happening with current cases in the region — transmission is happening in social environments and workplace settings were people are in close contact with others without distancing and masking.
People who live alone, who Wang said otherwise would be isolated if told only to stay within their household, can join another household over the holidays.
“Treat that household as their household going forward,” Wang said.
That means distancing and masking when around everyone else, and not celebrating the holidays in-person with anyone else.
Wang said she’s “very concerned” about people not following public-health recommendations over the holidays.
She wants people to understand that even if the virus may not have much effect on them personally, especially if they’re younger and are unlikely to become ill, the effects ripple throughout the region with very serious consequences for the entire health-care system and economy when the virus is allowed to spread through unprotected close contact.
Hospitalizations and intensive-care admissions continue to increase, which Wang said represents a “significant risk” for the region’s three hospitals and their ability to keep all procedures going as planned.
Also businesses, workplaces, care homes and other community health care are affected as infections spread quickly.
“It escalates and impacts the entire community,” Wang said. “I’m not sure people take it seriously enough and unfortunately we are starting the see the serious impacts.”