Health tips for enjoying safer holidays with others amid pandemic

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Avoiding large gatherings this holiday season is a safe step toward staying clear of COVID-19. But here are some tips if you believe attending one is a must.

“If you have to travel, have everyone get tested if there are tests available, and then you must isolate or quarantine until you get a negative test result,” said Dr. Sunil Budhrani, CEO and chief medical officer of Innovation Health.

He said any large holiday meal should “look very different.”

“Whoever is preparing the meal should wear a mask to avoid the spread of respiratory droplets,” Budhrani said.

He also said that the “buffet-style or communal self-service that we’re used to in the middle of a dinner table is an absolute no.”

Meals should be pre-plated in the kitchen, Budhrani said. And other food, such as snacks and appetizers, should be put out in individual prepackaged or pre-covered containers.

“These are some of the precautions that we need to think about this year,” Budhrani said.

This may not be your ideal way to celebrate the holidays, but Budhrani said when it comes to getting through the coronavirus pandemic: “We will get through this. And we’ll get through this stronger and better. And we’ll have learned should anything like this ever happen again; we will be better prepared.”

Additional ways you can celebrate safer can be found at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.


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Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.

Matt Small

Matt joined WTOP News at the start of 2020, after contributing to Washington’s top news outlet as an Associated Press journalist for nearly 18 years.

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