Omicron and the holidays: How to celebrate safely
Global News
Keeping gatherings small and making sure people are vaccinated can help keep the holidays safer for everyone, medical experts say.
Catherine Wreford Ludlow is looking forward to Christmas.
Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her family kept things quiet — fewer gifts, no cookie bake, no church, and not even her sister came over for dinner.
“I think this year it’s going to be a little bit more fun and a little bit more joyous for everybody,” the mother of two from Winnipeg said. She plans to see her parents, sister and a couple of friends.
This matters to her — she has terminal brain cancer.
“I know that with me having brain cancer, it’s how many years do I have?” she said. “But at the same time, I can enjoy this moment at this time, and I don’t need to look forward to anything.
“I can spend this with my family and my close friends. I know that that’s enough.”
Dario Wuensch, who lives in Toronto, had planned to visit family in Germany this year, but he cancelled his trip as case numbers started to increase in his home country.
“Numbers are spiking like crazy in Germany,” he said. “I would say it’s just the reasonable decision to delay seeing my family. I haven’t seen them since the beginning of the pandemic, so obviously that’s not great.