Stay Home this Easter Long Weekend

Thursday, 25 March 2021 05:38

The Easter long weekend is coming up and Southwestern Public Health is encouraging everyone to stay home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

OXFORD/ELGIN/ST.THOMAS - Easter long weekend is right around the corner and Southwestern Public Health is advising people to stay home.

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock says she is very concerned about the local numbers after the holiday.

"To be honest, I am very nervous, we have seen quite a few cases develop in parts of our health unit. We do know a majority of them were caused by socializing events between individuals who were not of the same household. I also know that we are tired as a community, of just being within our very small bubbles."

Dr. Lock says she realizes people will want to get together this Easter.

"Easter is often an event where we have a few days and it's accompanied by good weather and that does increase the desire for socialization. I urge people to just hang in there a bit longer, a few more months and to avoid those larger gatherings as we go into this Easter."

She notes the variants of concern can get out of hand really quickly and impact the vaccination efforts. She says they are even concerned about the prospect of meeting outside and not getting together for a meal.

"We did say last summer that it is better to get together outside and it definitely is better because there is more air movement outside and that makes it a little more difficult for us to catch the virus from one another. That said when we are socializing and chatting, we often move closer to each other, one so that we can hear better and also, that is just the way we are with each other."

She says with the variants of concern circulating in our community, it's best to just stay within your households this Easter.

"We have noticed the variants of concern spread very quickly among families, so if you're going to gather outside, we still recommend using a mask, now that we have the VOC's and again we keep it as small as possible. Despite everyone's good intention when you are out there together and having fun, you inevitably end up closer than 6 feet or 2 metres, so all in all, I hate to be the wet rag, but I strongly discourage those gatherings, even if they are outside."