With cold weather blowing in and fun fall holidays fast approaching, Dublin Life Magazine wanted to get the inside scoop on how to stay healthy while enjoying the season. We spoke to Dr. Ben Bring, a family practice physician at OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital for an expert opinion.
While pandemic precautions change by the day, Bring remains positive that there are safe ways to gather and celebrate both Halloween and Thanksgiving.
“Being able to go trick-or-treating from door to door could be safely done,” says Bring. “It’s going to be a personal preference, too, so families have to weigh the risks and benefits of their kids going out and trick-or-treating.”
Instead of handing candy directly to trick-or-treaters, consider spacing treats out on the porch for a safe, contactless candy pick-up. Have hand sanitizer at the ready and hang up a sign explaining the treats are sanitized and socially distant.
For those choosing to go door to door, there are a few precautions to take to protect yourself and others.
“Make sure that parents and kids are wearing masks while outside and avoid large gatherings,” says Bring. “With the kids, many will be wearing a mask anyways because of their costumes. And, it’s really easy to social distance while trick-or-treating.”
Though there will be changes this year, there’s also room for more creativity.
“This will create a good opportunity for costume innovations,” says Bring. “I definitely encourage wearing face masks in some capacity, but also having fun. This Halloween, you could dress up as Dr. Fauci or your favorite pandemic expert!”
The Do’s and Don’ts of Trick-or-Treating
DO
- Wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth
- Keep your distance from others
- Bring hand sanitizer with you
- Wash your hands frequently
- Follow all Dublin and Franklin County health guidelines
DON’T
- Put out a large, communal candy bowl
- Serve food and beverages
- Take off your mask
- Gather in large groups
- Invite trick-or-treaters inside
Rethinking Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving will look different this year, too. Gathering together won’t be easy. Bring discusses his thoughts on celebrating turkey day safely.
“The traditional Thanksgiving where you have 20 people coming to your house – I would be very cautious,” he says. “We just have to rethink how we do Thanksgiving.”
Dr. Ben Bring
Bring suggests eating a traditional meal with those living with you, and then driving by and doing some socially distant hang out time with loved ones. Another great way to celebrate safely is with a virtual Thanksgiving.
“I know everyone is itching to go back to normal, but at the same time we still have to keep friends and family safe,” says Bring. “Maybe Thanksgiving turns into a family hike somewhere outdoors, a bonfire in the back yard or a bike ride together.”
If your family does choose to gather around food this year, Bring has recommendations on how to be as safe as possible.
“Try to minimize the amount of people cooking the food and then serving the food as well,” he says. “You could have one person with gloves on and probably even a face shield with a face mask serving food.”
Regardless of the way you and yours choose to celebrate, Thanksgiving is bound to be different this year. Bring looks on the bright side, though, and focuses on the freedom to start new traditions out of the unfortunate circumstances.
“There’ll be a lot of fun traditions that may get lost just for a year,” he says, “but also opportunity for new ones.”
Autumn advice
It’s easy to feel blue around the holiday season. This year, those feelings may be heightened.
“Now, it’s more important than ever to constantly be reaching out to friends and family, just checking in and asking ‘How are you doing?’ and ‘How are you feeling?’,” says Bring. “It’s obviously affected all of us. I think we’ve all gone through some kind of feeling down.”
Though it’s hard not to have those face-to-face interactions, there are ways to maintain closeness through your choice of video chat software. And despite the cooler weather, you can still gather in person outdoors. Bring recommends bundling up and spending time around a fire pit to keep warm.
"My hope is by this time next year, we could potentially get back to some sort of normal."
“My daughter’s preschool teacher always joked that there is no bad weather, there’s only bad clothing,” he says. “Just make sure you’re well fitted to be outside when it gets colder here, but don’t be afraid to spend time outdoors.”
Don’t forget to protect yourself from regular old seasonal illness, too. Just like any other year, with the fall comes the flu.
“Make sure everybody gets their flu shot this year,” Bring says. “Now more than ever there’s a risk of compound infection where you could potentially be exposed to both coronavirus and the flu at the same time.”
Despite the words of warning, Bring leaves us with a positive message of hope.
“I’m a scientist at heart,” says Bring, “and I think science is going to win. I think we’re close to a vaccine. My hope is by this time next year, we could potentially get back to some sort of normal.”
Sarah Robinson is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
