Planning to travel or gather with family for the holidays? Here is what you should consider

The winter holiday season has arrived just as Ontario is dealing with a new variant of the novel coronavirus and a rise in new infections.

But unlike this time last year, when COVID-19 cases were soaring and vaccine coverage was near zero, politicians and public health officials are not discouraging travel and holiday gatherings this time around. 

Still, while there may not be cause cancel your plans just yet, infectious disease experts say continued community spread and uncertainty around the emergence of the omicron strain mean people should exercise caution.

"People are going to have different risk tolerances and ... there's a lot of different things that we can do to mitigate risk," said Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti, an infectious diseases physician at Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga. 

"Vaccination, of course, is the biggest one. There's also ... masking, distancing, being outdoors, improving ventilation."

While Ontario is seeing a rise in cases — the seven-day average jumped 20 per cent this week compared to last — and new cases of the omicron variant are being identified daily, the province is in much better shape than last year because 77 per cent of the population is now fully vaccinated.

The number of people in hospital due to COVID-19 is much lower than it was in 2020 mainly because of vaccination, experts say, meaning the health-care system has some available capacity.

"The risk has become so much smaller of severe disease," said Chakrabarti. 

"If you're vaccinated, the chance of you being hospitalized is extremely small at this point."

In Ontario, the capacity limit for private gatherings, such as a holiday party inside a home, is 25 people. That's also the limit for indoor public events.

Private outdoor gatherings can have up to 100 people and events in venues where people have to show proof of vaccination have no limits. Places of worship have the option to check proof of immunization documents and shed capacity and physical distancing rules.

But Dr. Anna Banerji, an infectious disease specialist with the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health, said just because Ontarians are allowed to gather with that many people, that doesn't mean they should.

"If you are going to have a gathering, try to make it a small, reasonable number of people," said Banerji.

"Just a small group of intimate friends or immediate family because we want to see those grandparents next year and the year after — we don't want anyone who's vulnerable to get sick."