For the past two Christmases, the scourge of Christmas celebrators has been covid-19. The problems with the coronavirus are not as great this year – the mutated variants cause milder illness and many elderly people are vaccinated – but two more viral diseases are in circulation. Overall, it leads to a difficult care situation.
– It is very stressful. Even in a normal year, it’s difficult with flu peaks and now we have rs virus and corona on top of that, and an unusual amount of all three in addition, says Jan Albert, professor of infection control at Karolinska Institutet.
“Then you should absolutely cancel your offer”
He believes that, in order to facilitate care and avoid serious cases of illness, there should be a “low threshold” for canceling the Christmas celebration.
– If you are obviously ill with respiratory symptoms and perhaps a fever, you should definitely cancel, says Albert.
He emphasizes that even a runny nose should be reason for canceled celebrations, especially if it has just debuted. That’s when you’re often most contagious, says Jan Albert.
– There will certainly be difficult decisions in many families and groups where you have hoped and planned for a Christmas that should be as ordinary as possible, but unfortunately it will not be like that everywhere.