Practice personal safety measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 this season

The holidays are best celebrated safely! As we enter the holiday season, find peace of mind in celebrating with these guidelines that allow for more activities and events together while keeping us safe and healthy.

Keep events fun and safe

If possible, events should be held outside or in a place gathering-goers have plenty of space. This allows guests to gather safely indoors and encourage greater social distancing.

Planning on attending festivities? Make sure to monitor your symptoms before to attending. Those with any symptoms of a cold, respiratory infection, influenza or COVID-19 should not attend the event. If you or your family are immunocompromised or ineligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, you may consider not attending the event to protect yourself and your family. As an alternative, those experiencing symptoms or choosing to stay home can join in the holiday festivities virtually by phone or video chat.

For food service, try to plan as much as possible for individually plated or packaged meals rather than buffet-style meals. This helps reduce the amount of shared utensils and transmission of germs.

Masking is still in style

A holiday outfit isn’t quite complete without a mask to go along with it! Masking is still strongly encouraged when in public, except while eating or drinking, to prevent a surge of COVID-19, the flu or other respiratory illnesses that impact our community, especially in the winter months.

Add at-home COVID tests to your holiday shopping list

Some families are using over-the-counter COVID tests to help keep their loved ones safe this holiday season. Our infectious disease specialist, Dr. Ruth Berggren, says they are a good extra safety precaution as long as you understand their limitations. Learn more here.

Physical distancing while being social

Air hugs, elbow bumps and clean hands can go a long way to keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Consider celebrating together, just a little farther away this year — six feet of separation can help reduce the spread of illness. And don’t forget to continue good hand-washing practices by washing for at least 20 seconds with soap and water.

 

Do you want to prepare for future holidays by getting vaccinated? To schedule a COVID-19 vaccine, visit uthealthcare.org/COVID.