While Thanksgiving is traditionally marked with large dinners with extended family and friends, public health officials are urging Londoners to keep celebrations low key this year.
The Middlesex London Health Unit said Thursday that, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and a post Thanksgiving surge of cases, gatherings for the holiday should be limited to people who live in the same house. Extended family should only join in the festivities virtually.
In addition to keeping celebrations to household members only, the health unit is asking people not to travel to COVID-19 hotspots, such as the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Quebec City.
"The coronavirus activity being reported in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec is concerning. These are the places many of our post-secondary students would normally go to be with family over the Thanksgiving weekend,” Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie said in a statement. “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."
The health unit's Thanksgiving advisory comes a day after Premier Doug Ford made a similar request of Ontarians and as new cases in the province soared to nearly 800. Ontario logged a total of 797 new infections Thursday, the majority of which were in Toronto, Ottawa, Peel, and York Region.
Other public health measures being reinforced heading into the long weekend include wearing a face covering at all times in public spaces, avoiding play dates with other families, and not visiting restaurants and bars with friends.
The London region has recorded 922 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, 35 of which were confirmed this week.