Spread goodwill and cheer this holiday season, not COVID-19.
That's the advice from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit which is urging residents to limit the number of gatherings they host or attend.
Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai says physical distancing and masking is recommended as well if you're visiting with people from multiple households who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
He says any time people gather there's a heightened risk for transmission.
"The more people that meet together, the more likely there's going to be spread of COVID," he says. "The direction to limit family gatherings or limit social gatherings will be one part of the strategy to try to diminish the burden of COVID-19 in the community."
Dr. Nesathurai says it's all about protecting the community as a whole.
"The two groups of people that we're particularly concerned about are people that are currently unvaccinated, and there are about 50,000 of those individuals in the health district, and then the people that are chronically ill who are vaccinated and although they're vaccinated, they're not able to mount the same level of immune response," says Dr. Nesathurai.
He adds don't be afraid to ask if family and friends are vaccinated.
"COVID can make its way from apparently healthy people all the way to the vulnerable and the unvaccinated," he says. "So at the end of the day, our recommendation is to limit family gatherings to less than 10 so that we can break the chain of transmission and ultimately protect members of the community."
Current COVID-19 restrictions state indoor gatherings must not exceed 10 people while outdoor gatherings are limited to 25.
The full list of safe holiday recommendations can be found on the health unit's website.