Virus expert recommends changing, not cancelling, holiday plans

Rather than cancel Christmas or New Year's celebrations over COVID-19 fears, Dr. Lisa Barrett is hoping Nova Scotians will scale back their usual holiday gatherings.

"You don't have to have 20 [guests] just because you can," said the infectious disease expert. "Keep it in your bubble as much as you can for the holiday gatherings."

Because COVID-19 spreads more easily in enclosed spaces, Barrett suggests enjoying outdoor activities, especially when kids are taking part.

"It would be really great to be outside to share some time together," she said. "And if you're inside, consider keeping a window cracked open or having some extra filtration in place."

For those who prefer cosy indoor gatherings, Barrett said to remember the basics: wearing masks when possible, physically distancing and frequent handwashing.

Limiting close contact with others, especially if food and drink are involved, will also help curb spread of infection.

"Instead of a five-hour dinner, maybe you have a two-hour dinner," she said. "The shorter things are, the less likely you are to have exposures."

Testing for possible COVID-19 exposure also adds an extra layer of protection, according to Barrett, who has championed Nova Scotia's preventative testing program.

The program is so successful, Nova Scotians have cleared out many libraries of pre-holiday test kits.

Nova Scotia Health hopes to restock supplies as quickly as possible.

"Please don't panic or feel you're completely vulnerable without the tests for a week," said Barrett. "We will be restocking those out to the libraries hopefully by next week."

Some business owners have been critical of the government's decision to impose tighter gathering limits while hospitalization rates remain low. But Barrett said it's too soon to draw conclusions about the threat posed by the month-old Omicron variant driving this latest outbreak.

"If we start to think about Omicron as this thing that we know everything about from snippets of information, we are going to be in big trouble," she said. "We don't know that the disease is milder.

"If we let cases run wild when we still have vulnerable people who aren't optimally vaccinated with boosters or third doses and kids who are not vaccinated ... even if it's .1 per cent of people who end up in hospital, that number will be huge if you've got 200,000 people infected."

She said even if we have to lower our expectations and modify our celebrations, we can still enjoy the holidays.

"We can still go out. We can still do things for the moment, it's just in a far more moderate way."