The Middlesex-London Health Unit is issuing new public health guidance, cautioning people against travelling to areas experiencing a significant increase in COVID-19 case numbers and encouraging residents to limit their Thanksgiving celebrations to their household only or take festivities online.
The health unit is specifically asking people to avoid travelling to the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City.
“These are the places many of our post-secondary students would normally go to be with family over the Thanksgiving weekend,” says medical officer of health Dr. Chris Mackie.
“If you’re a student who is planning to leave London this weekend, we ask that you use extra caution and avoid close contact with anyone you haven’t lived with since school started. It’s important we keep our loved ones, especially older relatives, safe and healthy.”
During Thursday afternoon’s COVID-19 media briefing alongside Mackie, Mayor Ed Holder urged the public to heed the public health warnings.
“It’s the strongest recommendation I can urge delivered as firmly and directly as I’m able: please, stay home this Thanksgiving. Please, don’t travel out of town. Please, stick to members of your household only. The stakes this coming weekend have never been greater, and we absolute cannot afford to get this wrong,” he said.
“As always, it’s not enough if some of us do the right thing or most of us do the right thing. This requires all of us to do the right thing.”
When asked specifically about post-secondary students, Holder urged them to avoid travel.
“The recommendation that we are making is on behalf of all Londoners, be they Western students or Fanshawe students: stay home, and London is home.”
T.J. Ayoub and Kishore Basu are among those staying put. The fourth year Western University students are both from London and live at home. They say they have no plans to mark the holiday beyond their individual households.
“I know of a couple people who are planning to go back and I don’t necessarily agree with that decision,” Ayoub said.
“I don’t know how they’re going to deal with that. As long as they try to really be safe about it I think it’ll be okay, but obviously it’s better if just everyone follows the guidelines and we can be finished with this.”
Basu says he’s expecting an uptick in cases after Thanksgiving but is hopeful that enough can be done to keep the school open.
“What matters then is how we control it going forward. I think we don’t necessarily have to shut the entire school again if students are conscientious and responsible. I hope that’s the case and I think it will be.”
Emmanuel Kyeremeh is a graduate student at Western. He says he has no plans for the long weekend due to the rising case counts.
“Usually we would meet at a friend’s place to have dinner or be invited by one of the professors to have dinner, but I don’t think that is really going to take place this time around. We’ll still be thankful, we’re always thankful, so we’ll just have the Thanksgiving in the quiet of our homes,” he said.
“There’ll be more Thanksgivings that will come our way for us to enjoy and celebrate.”
First-year student Britney So is from Vancouver and will be staying in residence over the long weekend.
“It’s just because of the distance, it just doesn’t make sense for me to take two days and travel there and back.”
Fellow first year student Kenneth West, however, will be making his way back to Brampton.
“I was deciding whether or not to get tested before I go back home, just to play it safe, but I heard that they’re not doing testing unless you have any symptoms, so I’m just going to go back regardless,” he said.
“I know that it is possible to have COVID and not have any symptoms, so I am worried about that, but maybe I’ll consider getting tested at home as well, just to play it safe there, but I feel like I’ll be good either way.”
In his experience, he’s found that most people he knows who live closer to London, like those from the Greater Toronto Area, are planning to travel home while those he knows who are originally from other places farther away in Canada are staying.
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Similarly, third year student Krish Gandhi plans to travel to his hometown on Friday while Charlotte Gall, also in third year, won’t be making her way back to Calgary.
“For me, I’m more worried about my family because they go to work, my little brother still goes to high school, so I’m kind of worried about being around them, but they’ve been fairly cognizant and pretty safe,” Gandhi said.
“I’m not planning on doing any gatherings outside of my direct family and I’m planning to stay there for at least a week I guess to settle in rather than jumping back and forth as well.”
Outside of travel recommendations, the MLHU also reminds residents to wear masks in public spaces, as well as at workplaces and in break rooms.
In addition, the health unit says those who live alone should “consider having close contact with only one other household.” Playdates with other families in the neighbourhood, as well as movie nights, sleepovers, or social gatherings with friends at bars and restaurants are all discouraged.
People should maintain a two-metre distance from anyone who is not part of their household and should wash hands frequently with soap and water for 15-20 seconds, or use a waterless hand sanitizer containing at least 70 per cent alcohol. People should also cough or sneeze into their elbow or sleeve. High-touch areas like doorknobs and handrails should be cleaned frequently.
Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19, anyone who has been contacted by the health unit, and anyone who has been notified through the COVID Alert app about close contact with a confirmed case should visit an assessment centre to get tested.
Ontario recorded a new record high of coronavirus cases within a 24-hour period on Thursday, with 797 cases reported.
According to Thursday’s provincial report, 265 new cases were recorded in Toronto, 182 in Ottawa, 134 in Peel Region, 78 in York Region and 33 in Halton Region.
In Quebec, 1,078 were reported on Thursday.
–With files from Global News’ Andrew Graham, Kalina Laframboise, and Gabby Rodrigues.
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