“Drink until you can’t tell the difference between Haman and Mordecai”, between foe and savior, Jews are commanded on Purim. This Jewish holiday, which also calls on people to dress up in costumes, may not be the most important one, but it is, for many, the most joyous. The alcohol, of course, is just a lubricant; the holiday is fun because whole communities celebrate it together.
Israel did everything right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country put anti-coronavirus measures in place in January, before many other nations and before the first case was confirmed in Israel. Its borders were closed to non-citizens, quarantines were instituted for Israelis returning from COVID hotspots, and soon after, the size of public gatherings were also limited.
Things were going very well — until, that is, Purim celebrations in March caused the R0 to spike, very quickly, to almost South Korean levels.
What do you absolutely need to know before you even think about celebrating the winter holidays?
Christmas and the New Year are going to make you feel weird
That’s normal. Holidays are natural mental markers that remind us of the past; even if we’re not very good with dates, we remember these milestones because we build rituals around them. This partially explains why holidays are so tricky for many people with post-traumatic stress disorder, and it partially explains why you’re going to feel weird this Christmas and the New Year.
Like other important holidays, Christmas and the New Year bring people together. Whether we squabble over turkey, dance on the table, or open carefully-chosen gifts with our families and friends, these rituals tell us that we’re not alone. And we really need that, especially now.
That’s going to be particularly painful this year. The first seeds of the nightmare ahead had already been planted — “clusters of pneumonia of unknown cause” in Hubei, China, the World Health Organization called them at the time — but most lives were still untouched by the 2020 many actually looked forward to. Last year’s winter holidays were business as usual, and this year’s aren’t.
Since last year, you may have lost loved ones to COVID, or had the virus yourself and still struggle with recovery. You may have lost your job, or continue to be overwhelmed with the knowledge that a simple, now masked-up, trip to the grocery store may land you in the ICU a week later. If nothing else, you’re likely going to have trouble with the idea that after a very tough year, it’s still not safe to celebrate the holidays with your extended family.
That weirdness doesn’t make it safe to throw social distancing out the window
Before you decide to invite your extended family over from diverse parts of the country, and perhaps even globe, or invite a similar invitation, know that:
- Even if you have done your very best to adhere to social distancing recommendations, you always wear a mask in settings that call for it, and you wash your hands frequently and properly, your loved ones may not.
- Long-distance travel often means contact with numerous others; it is a realistic way to become infected.
- Limiting your in-person celebrations to either your own household or your household and one other is safest — in the UK, they have the right idea with social bubbles.
- The longer you spend in close contact with other people, the higher your risk; spending more than 15 minutes less than six feet away from someone with COVID is much more dangerous than doing so for just a few minutes. The closer you come, the higher the risk. The louder you all talk, the higher your risk — and singing is particularly dangerous.
- Having celebrations in public venues with larger numbers of people is especially dangerous. Social distancing will not be possible, and celebrations during which people eat and drink cause masks to come off.
So, how do I celebrate the holidays semi-safely?
Physically celebrating the holidays with members of your own household and getting everyone else up on Zoom would be your safest bet. We know, it’s not what you wanted — but if everyone did it, the pandemic could come to an end sooner, so that we may be able to celebrate Christmas and the New Year 2019-style again next year.
If you are going to have people over, carefully consider who you invite. Remember that long-distance travel is a risk, and consider only inviting (a small number of) guests who live nearby. Ask your prospective guests to essentially quarantine themselves in the weeks leading up to the celebration, lowering the risk they will have COVID when the holidays roll around. This is especially true if elderly or high-risk people will be attending your celebration. Ask guests to remove their shoes, and wash their clothes and masks as soon as they get in. Keep luggage in the garage, or in another safe place, as COVID can remain on some surfaces for up to 28 days.
The CDC also advises guests and hosts alike to wear masks while indoors, unless they are eating or drinking, in which case they should maintain a safe distance. This may be an unrealistic expectation. Instead, you could strongly consider only inviting guests who have limited their social contacts and are highly unlikely to be infected.