With the holiday season around the corner, you might be wondering how to plan your celebrations without creating health risks. As we have learned to live with COVID-19, it’s easier to feel comfortable and prioritize fun, but no one wants to create a super-spreader event or be the cause of someone’s illness. So, here are some steps to consider to make your time together safe and enjoyable:

  1. Set up simple precautions
    Implement simple steps that will help keep any event safe. Encourage clean hands by setting up soap dispensers and paper towels by the sink or place hand sanitizer near food. Avoid communal bowls of food like chips and instead pre-portion them into plates or cups, or use utensils for self-service. Consider running a quality air filter or opening windows if the temperature allows.
  2. Communicate with guests
    Let your guests know what you’ve done to make the setup safer so they can feel confident about attending. Remind them to stay home if they are feeling unwell or may have been exposed. We all know to stay home if there’s risk, but the pressures of the holiday social season can make it hard to say no to events when unwell. You can make someone’s decision not to attend easier by saying it’s okay.
  3. Consider the risk and situation
    The state of the pandemic changes often, whether it’s new variants or new vaccine approvals. As you’re planning your get-together, keep in mind varying levels of risk.

It can be tempting to see COVID-19 as a cold or minor illness, but that’s not the case for everybody. Not only does the disease increase the risk for longer-term health problems, some people are not able to mount a proper immune response even if they’ve been vaccinated. They might have a health condition or be taking medication that impacts their immune system.

Fortunately, in addition to the tips above, there are additional prevention and treatment options that can help protect immune-compromised people, such as monoclonal antibodies. These work by mimicking the body’s natural antibodies to neutralize a virus.

You can learn more about the best ways to prevent or treat COVID-19 by speaking with your healthcare provider and by visiting canada.ca.