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There is no doubt that this will be a different Christmas after the new coronavirus has turned the world inside out and forced a rethinking of the holiday season. A few hours before dinner and Christmas lunch, PUBLIC gathers some of the top tips from the experts to celebrate the date safely.
The first has been repeated for several days: minimize the number of people at the table. Although the Portuguese Government has not established a limit on the number of people who can meet this Christmas, the Prime Minister has reiterated that the parties must be carried out “with the utmost care”, preferably always with a mask and at the table “the minimum of possible time. ”“ If it is customary for three or four households to meet [familiares] different, just join two. In this way, no one is left alone and the risk of uniting many people is avoided, ”epidemiologist Manuel Carmo Gomes emphasizes to the PUBLIC.
Celso Cunha, virologist and professor at the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (IHMT-NOVA), also calls on people to try to celebrate Christmas with their usual home, restrict the number of contacts and not take it to their homes. families. it houses “outsiders, whether they are close or distant relatives”. “If we are restricted to our home, the risk is much lower because they are people with whom we live every day and, regardless of whether it is Christmas or not, the risk remains the same,” he says. On the other hand, “keeping the Christmas celebration inside the home, it is not necessary to take more precautionary measures in addition to those that are usually taken on a day-to-day basis.”
Older people should spend less time at the table and stay at the extremes
It is also important “to identify if there is any person in the family who has a high risk of hospitalization if they contract COVID-19; generally they are elderly people or with chronic diseases, such as heart disease or obstructive pulmonary diseases, which are known to be associated with more serious clinical conditions ”, explains Manuel Carmo Gomes. These people “should be protected” and it is advisable to try minimize the time spent in a closed environment with many people. “Instead of spending two, three or four hours, which is usually the minimum time it takes for a Christmas dinner, try to allow these people to spend less time [no espaço de convívio], for example, only 20 minutes or half an hour. It does not prevent them from seeing their children and grandchildren, but they are at greater risk if they are closed for so long with so many people, ”says the epidemiologist. This is due to the fact that, during speaking hours, sometimes aloud, “an aerosol cloud is generated and, if someone becomes infected, the virus is suspended in the air and can be inhaled by the people present. ”.
The president of the National Association of Public Health Physicians, Ricardo Mexia, also highlights the importance of “having fewer people at the table” this year and reducing the time we spend at the table, since during this period “we are closer and we tend to be a mask “. The public health doctor also emphasizes that it is important”try to preserve the aggregate distribution“:” That is, try to put people who live together on one side and those who live in another household on the other end to maintain a certain distance. “
It is also recommended sit “the most vulnerable people at the end of the table and closer to them, put your contacts that are common ”, advises Bernardo Gomes, public health doctor and professor at the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto. “When organizing Christmas dinner or lunch, [aconselha-se] place people in such a way that the usual homes are together and eventually even separated by tables, if that is the case. This is something that can be done to reduce risk, ”he says, adding that Organize the distribution of food and tables by households.. “If, for example, two large aggregates come together, it is recommended to have things distributed so that the exchange of cutlery [e travessas] become, in some way, among the usual aggregates ”, he points out.
Some experts heard by the PUBLIC had also advised that family visits or gatherings be held at other times of the day when there are no meetings at the table, with distance and safety.
Air out spaces and do not share utensils or towels.
Bernardo Gomes also points out that “you cannot control all the risk” with respect to the use of the mask “because, as time passes and people relax, that control is easily lost”. “So the best way to control it is to have as few people as possible,” he says. Also, “is desirable to ventilate the spaces, that is to say, before the meals begin ”. However, the expert admits that “with the cold that is going to be this is not very feasible”, being “preferable to choose wider spaces (if possible) where people are more distant than relying on ventilation to maintain safety ”. If the space is small, “it is better to have fewer people.”
Ricardo Mexia also highlights the importance of maintaining a good air exchange and not sharing cutlery, glasses or other utensils. It is also recommended that people try do not share bath towels, with which they usually dry their hands, opting, for example, for disposable paper towels.
The recommendations are also shared by the General Directorate of Health, which urges people to comply with all the regulations in force in their municipality; do not contact other people if they are in quarantine or prophylactic isolation; reduce face-to-face meetings and time spent together; ensure aeration of spaces and disinfection of surfaces; keep physical distance when preparing meals and avoid sharing objects.
The tests do not invalidate keeping “all other precautions”
There is also a call that different experts repeat: if you have symptoms compatible with covid-19, do not participate in Christmas celebrations because you could run the risk of infecting more people.
Addressing those who did a diagnostic test on covid-19 before Christmas dinner, Ricardo Mexia points out: “The fact that this has happened is not a factor in not taking all other precautions.” “The point of the tests is that if it is positive, people will naturally no longer be able to interact with others, if it is negative, they must take exactly the same care as if they had not been tested,” he reaffirms.
Joins the list measures “that everyone already knows by heart and skips”: physical distance, use of a mask (when not eating), hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. It is also recommended to keep your distance and wear a mask when exchanging gifts, explains the public health doctor.
A Christmas “without big hugs or kisses”
Ricardo Mexia also remembers that it is necessary to avoid closeness between the guests, without big hugs, kisses or interactions. The most vulnerable people, that is, the elderly and those with other associated diseases, “must be even more careful.”
Another recommendation is use digital platforms to keep in touch with people who will not be attending Christmas this year. This is the case of Celso Cunha, who will use the Zoom platform to “wish everyone a Merry Christmas and kiss from a distance”. If you are not used to using these platforms and social networks, there is always the option to phone calls to “share some moments of the Christmas season even from a distance”. “I think making phone calls to wish everyone a good Christmas will certainly be a more common practice this year,” says the expert.
The last point on the list, Ricardo Mexia emphasizes, “is that people realize that this is, in fact, an exceptional year.” “We are all a bit saturated, but unfortunately the situation is still very complicated and we have to postpone this interaction that we all miss a little longer: the hugs, the closeness.”
