The holidays are upon us, but what’s still a little further out is a vaccine for COVID-19. While many of us have our fingers crossed that we’ll see a vaccine early next year, we can count on it not being available in time for the holidays this year. That’s why we all need to make some changes to how we celebrate in order to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Celebrating the holidays in the COVID-19 era

1. Stay at home — The best thing you can do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe is to stay home this year. Don’t force people together because it’s too important to you to have a gathering. The worst thing to happen would be to make it be someone’s last Thanksgiving or Christmas instead of missing it this year and celebrating many more in the future.
2. Have a virtual dinner — The internet makes it easy for large groups to hang out virtually now. Using Zoom, Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, a large group of people can interact in live video calls with one another. You can use this during the holidays during meals or when opening presents to share the special moments with each other.
3. Play a game together — Many families enjoy playing board games or lawn games together during the holidays. While you might not be in the same location for the holidays, you can still enjoy games together. You don’t need to have the latest Xbox, PlayStation or gaming PC. Many party games can be enjoyed on an average computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.

   Get everyone together virtually for a Jackbox game or Among Us for hours of fun with the family!

4. If you must gather, stay outdoors and mask up — For those of you who are adamant about spending the time together physically, please try to take care of each other. It’s for the good of yourself, your family and anyone else you might come around when you’re out doing something like grocery shopping.

   Stay outdoors. Maintain a distance of at least 6 feet. Wear a mask (and make sure it covers your nose…). If one of your family members will not respect your health concerns by refusing to wear a mask or coming closer than 6 feet, then it’s OK to respectfully dismiss yourself. Like we said before, it’s not worth the risk of making this someone’s last holiday because we can’t control ourselves for a few more months.

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