If you are planning a holiday party, the Windsor Essex County Health Unit hopes you'll take precautions to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.
Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai reported an uptick in cases and clusters related to social gatherings. While some cases have been traced back to schools and athletic events, others were from holiday gatherings.
"I think everybody recognizes that as people spend more time indoors, you would expect to have a greater case count and greater burden of disease," he said. "We want to have a manageable burden of disease, so we don't have to implement additional public health measures."
The health unit reported 49 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and 12 community outbreaks of the virus.
Of the new cases, 16 people caught the virus in the community. Another 19 had close contact with someone else who has tested positive for it, three are related to outbreaks, and 11 are under investigation.
There are 309 active cases in the region, an increase of 29 from Tuesday.
Under provincial public health guidelines, it is legal to host an indoor gathering with 50 people.
Nesathurai believes there's nothing wrong with insisting everyone on the guest list be fully vaccinated.
"I don't think anyone wants to have a Thanksgiving party or Christmas party and have that to be the source of a cluster of cases and getting other people sick," he said.
While it is possible for those who have had both shots to get and transmit the virus, he said those fully vaccinated are at a lower risk of getting COVID-19. If you don't get it, you can't transmit it, and the health unit said based on data from the past couple of weeks, those who remain unvaccinated are 3.5 times more likely to get sick.
Nesathurai said it might be hard to enforce but maintain social distance at parties. He also has an unconventional suggestion.
"Now, I know that it's hard, but to the best of your ability, it's better to have a party outdoors than indoors," he said.
Ontario's guidelines allow for private outdoor gatherings of up to 100 people.
CEO Nicole Dupuis also recommends prioritizing your gatherings.
"It's a decision around risk," she said. "Our message has always been to reduce your individual risk as much as possible because it contributes to our risk as a community."
She also urged the public not to ignore symptoms. If you are sick, don't go.
Meanwhile, a man in his 70s who lived in the community is the region's 467th fatality from the virus.
There are 18 people with COVID-19 in the hospital. Sixteen are at Windsor Regional Hospital, where nine of those people are unvaccinated. One had just one shot, and five others, both.
Including the 12 in the community, there are 23 outbreaks across Windsor-Essex. Riverside Secondary School, Leamington District Secondary School, Essex Public School, and St. Gabriel Catholic Elementary School all have multiple cases of COVID-19.