Celebrating Holidays during the Pandemic
Jessica Fisher, Public Information Assistant, 509.625.6749
Wednesday, December 16, 2020 at 3:18 p.m.
Holiday season is in full swing! As you celebrate during the coronavirus pandemic, here are some tips on how to celebrate safely.
Many traditional holiday activates like attending or hosting gatherings are simply high-risk for spreading coronavirus. In fact, until Jan. 4, our state has prohibited indoor social gatherings with people outside a household unit unless people quarantine for 14 days or quarantine for seven days and receive a negative test result for COVID-19.
The safest way to celebrate winter holidays is to celebrate at home with your household unit. We can get creative and find new holiday traditions!
Winter Holiday Activities
Here are some fun ideas on how to celebrate the holidays safely.
- Finalize your holiday shopping at the Winter Market at the Pavilion. The market is open 3 – 7 p.m., every Wednesday through January, except Dec. 23.
- Drive down to Manito Park for the Enchanted Garden Drive-Thru Holiday Lights at Manito Park. The drive-thru is open through Sunday, Dec. 20, 4:30 – 8:30 p.m. on weeknights and 4:30 – 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
- Join us downtown for the Numerica Lights Up the Night Holiday Tree Walk. Approximately 40 fresh-cut trees are located throughout the park along with holiday lights and the Singing Sculpture at the Rotary Fountain. Download the map here.
- Enjoy the Holiday Light Show at the Pavilion! The show is from sunset to 10 p.m. nightly.
- Host a virtual ugly holiday sweater contest.
- Prepare holiday dishes and deliver them to family and friends who are high risk. You can leave the dishes on their front porch!
- Have a remote potluck. Assign dishes to friends and family then deliver them to one another’s home.
- Share your favorite holiday recipe with friends and family. You can even hold a virtual cooking class.
- Schedule a time to meet virtually and open gifts together.
- Build gingerbread houses, decorate cookies, or make holiday crafts and decorations.
- Have a holiday cookie baking contest and drop off cookies to your judges. You can even have a virtual tasting and award a winner!
- Decorate or create a winter holiday scene and take family photos at home.
- Enjoy the winter weather, make snowman, snow angels, or build a snow fort.
- Visit Santa Claus, just make sure to wear your mask and stay six feet apart.
- If you typically attend a religious ceremony, consider attending a virtual service.
If you do plan to spend the holidays with people outside your household unit, take steps to make your celebration safer.
- Wear a mask to stop the spread of COVID-19. Make sure the mask fits snugly against the sides of your face and covers both your mouth and nose.
- Stay at least 6 feet away from those outside of your household unit.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If you are unable to wash your hands, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
- And, in all cases, if you have COVID-19, may have COVID-19, have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the past 14 days, or are waiting on COVID-19 test results, you should not participate in any in-person holiday activities.
For guidance on holiday gatherings, traveling and staying overnight or hosting overnight guests visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
If you develop symptoms consistent with COVID-19 within 14 days of your holiday celebrations, such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath, or if you test positive for COVID-19, immediately notify all the attendees. Contact your health care provider and follow the CDC recommended steps for what to do if you become sick.
We wish you and your family a SAFE holiday season!
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