“A holiday season like none other”

COVID-19 cases are increasing rapidly in Washington state, across the country and around the world. Hospitalizations are also on the rise and there are concerns in many regions about having enough beds and staff to care for this influx, particularly as we head into our annual cold and flu season.

On Sunday, Nov. 15, Governor Jay Inslee ordered new statewide restrictions designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 and help keep our hospitals and health care systems from being overwhelmed with a surge of COVID-19 patients.

Those orders include significant restrictions on indoor gatherings, prohibiting indoor social gatherings with anyone outside of your immediate household unless all attendees quarantine for 14 days prior to the event, or quarantine for seven days and have a negative COVID-19 test result within 48 hours of the planned gathering.

In the video below, MultiCare epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist Michael Myint, MD, discuss the risks traditional holiday gatherings pose during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and why health care experts, as well as our elected officials, are urging everyone to celebrate the holidays a little differently this year.

Editor’s note: In this video, “family bubble” is defined as those who live in the same household.