A very Merry Christmas from the City of Dryden.
Chief Administrative Officer Roger Nesbitt has passed along the holiday greeting and reminds everyone to stay safe.
Nesbitt says we are still in the throws of COVID.
“Unfortunately there are restrictions that we have to abide by. But we’ve done such a great job through this pandemic that I’d hate to see any of those efforts spoiled, even through the holiday season.”
Health officials ask that you limit travel, stay in your own home and if you live alone you can choose one place to go to.
Here is some advice on how to stay safe this holiday season:
Craft/Bake Sales, Vendor Events:
-When planning events or sales, consider doing them online instead of in-person.
-If hosting a sale/vendor event in-person, it must follow all public health prevention measures:
1. Gathering size restrictions
2. Keep enough space to maintain 1 person for every 2 m2
3. When planning in-person sales/events, consider spreading them over a few days/weekends with smaller numbers of vendors.
Christmas dinners:
-Must follow provincial gathering limits at the time
-Use prevention measures – masking, hand hygiene, and separate seating 2 metres apart (for those not in the same household).
-Do not attend if you are unwell or have been told to self-isolate
-Situation may change as we get closer to Christmas, so acknowledge that plans may need to be modified accordingly??
Holiday Travel:
-Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others.
-We recommend against all non-essential travel to areas that have higher levels of COVID-19 (Orange, Red, and Grey levels).
-Avoid hosting visitors in your household for non-essential reasons.
-Those returning to our area from very high risk areas (Lockdown or Grey) in Ontario, should drastically reduce close contact with others for 10 to 14 days after arriving in our area.
-Workplaces and organizations may have policies regarding employee travel. Review your workplace’s policies before making travel decisions.
-More information on travel recommendations can be found on our Travel and COVID-19 page.