Don't expect a 'normal' Christmas, says Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph's Dr. Nicola Mercer

Dr. Nicola Mercer says she knows people won't be happy with her response to whether the holidays will be normal this year.

The CEO and medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health says people need to rethink normal this year.

A normal gathering would include social gatherings and being close to other people in private homes.

"I think we have to say, no, not normal," Mercer said in an interview with CBC Kitchener-Waterloo.

"I'm urging everyone listening to think about a different way of celebrating Christmas," she said. "But I think that there are still things that we can do tobe very creative. I know I'm trying to think of my own family, how to do it, to feel like we're connected, but maybe not be in the same house and certainly not having large gatherings."

Mercer says she knows many university and college residences will close over the holidays, and students will have to come home, but people need to take steps to ensure they're not gathering outside their households in order to curb spread of COVID-19.

Too many bubbles

Earlier this week, Mercer released a letter to the communitytelling people they needto limit social interactions with people outside their homes.

"It's become really clear that there are certain behaviours and drivers of this pandemic that people aren't really clear about," Mercer said.

"I've heard lots of talk about bubbles from people and they tell me that they have a work bubble, a gym bubble, a home bubble and school bubble. And we think, well, no, you have too many people in your life."

She said parents have said that play dates and sleepovers must be OK if the kids are in the same classroom and therefore the same cohort.

"They're missing the point," she said. "Interactions that they truly don't think are going to harm them are actually causing the spread of this virus."

No need to be in 'red zone'

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health is currently in the "orange zone" of the province's COVID-19 framework. Mercer says she doesn't think the community needs to move to the "red zone" just yet.

"I hope we don't get there and I'm certainly doing everything in my power to ... not to be there," she said.

Recently there was a spike in cases in the Mennonite community in Wellington County, she noted. Mercer ordered the community to close churches and schools.

"The behaviours in that community have actually changed rapidly as well as there's been a lot more testing in that community," she said. "I'm hoping as they move forward that we're going to be able to control it and get our numbers back down."