Easter in a pandemic. How to spend it safely?

This year’s Easter will be overshadowed by the third wave of the pandemic. Experts agree that the holiday season may be the peak of coronavirus infections in Poland. Yesterday, our country broke another record in terms of the daily number of new COVID-19 cases.

1. Last year’s Easter holidays took place during the lockdown, which was in force throughout the country
2. During the coming Easter holidays, the government has not introduced a travel ban. There are only recommendations and appeals
3. We remind you which Easter practices expose us to the greatest risk of infection and take care of your and your loved ones’ safety
4. You can find more such stories on the Onet homepage.

Easter 2021 – current restrictions

In accordance with the restrictions currently in force in Poland, five people may participate in meetings organized at home, in addition to the host and residents. Those vaccinated with the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine do not count towards this limit, as long as they received the preparation at least seven days earlier.

You can go to church if your mouth and nose are covered (cotton masks are allowed, and the Ministry of Health recommends surgical masks or better).

1 person per 20 sq m may participate in the mass, maintaining a social distance (not less than 1,5 m) and covering the mouth and nose.

Safe Easter in a pandemic – the most important rules

Celebrating Easter in Poland involves visits to the church. Catholics take part in masses, but also in blessing baskets before Easter Sunday. Meanwhile, according to the American CDC, it is in the church that it is easiest to get infected with the coronavirus. First of all, because during the service one answers to the priest, sings, squeezes the hands of other believers, and also takes communion. These activities increase the risk of transmission of the virus. In addition, the church is a closed room where people gather, often at risk.

1. Also check: Places where it is easiest to get infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

So when it comes to this year’s Easter, it will be safer to spend it away from the church. In the event that we are unable to give up religious rites, we should strictly follow the sanitary regime to avoid coronavirus infection.

Most Poles cannot imagine Easter without meeting their family. Meanwhile, the CDC believes that this is the third of the activities most conducive to coronavirus infection. Dr. Anthony Fauci also thinks of the same, commenting on it like this: At the meeting, one person appears who is asymptomatically infected, and then suddenly four or five people from that meeting become infected.

1. The editorial office recommends: “Unexpected” place where you can get infected with COVID-19. Dr. Fauci warns

So the safest thing to do is to give up Christmas breakfast altogether. If this is not an option, first of all, we should avoid meeting people at risk (seniors or chronically ill family members), and monitor our health condition. If we have symptoms of coronavirus, we should skip Christmas breakfast – for the benefit of other family members.

On the occasion of Christmas in 2020, scientists from the British SAGE advisory group published proposals on how to celebrate the holidays without endangering yourself and your loved ones to coronavirus infection. They proposed two solutions: online holidays and outdoor meetings. Given their suggestions, you can plan a safer alternative to Easter. Scientists propose to meet the family in public places, with their own dishes, drinks and festive dishes. They also suggest walking together.

General guidelines that will help reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission include: keeping distances, disinfecting and airing rooms. So, if we are going to spend Easter as it was before the pandemic, it is a good idea to give up physical contact with family members and avoid using the same utensils. In turn, the room where the Christmas meeting will take place should be regularly aired.

1. How to properly ventilate the rooms?

Easter 2021 in a pandemic. What are the experts saying?

In 2021, Easter is early April. Dr. Aneta Afelt from the COVID-19 team at the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences predicted earlier in an interview with Medonet that the turn of March and April would be the peak time of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Poland. Today we know that she was right.

– It is very likely that this is when the epidemic wave will reach its peak. Indeed, it could coincide with the holiday season. That is why I urge you to take advantage of what technology offers us. Let’s spend this holiday together, but at a distance – via the Internet, instant messaging, by phone … Such closeness, although it is not physical, can have a deep spiritual dimension. And with this emotional, not physical aspect, we should “measure” the quality of our relationships in the present situation.

Dr. Tomasz Dzieiątkowski, a virologist, in turn, advises against Easter with traditional religious rites.

– Visits to churches with święconka, we should rather forgive ourselves, but we can count, I think, on reasonably limited meetings with our loved ones. This is because intra-family infections occur relatively rarely – emphasized Dr. Dzieśctkowski in an interview with Onet Wiadomości.

Also read:

1. These people do not need to wear a mask. The ministry expanded the list
2. The doctor tells you who goes to covid wards most often now
3. What to do to “get rid of the plague and get back to normal”? Experts have no doubts
4. Coronavirus antibody test from Biedronka – how does it work? We checked
5. How do I deal with the side effects of vaccination? [WE EXPLAIN]

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