The Department of Health has published COVIDSafe advice for hosts and attendees of household Christmas parties at www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/covidsafe-gatherings.
The advice includes a checklist for hosts of parties, and suggestions for alternative ways of hosting the event in person to reduce the risk of transmission.
In short, hosts and attendees can consider these three tips:
If you have symptoms, don’t go. Get a PCR test instead and stay isolated until you get a negative result. If you don’t have symptoms, consider taking a rapid antigen test before leaving home. If you’re hosting, ask guests to do the same. This might mean one person misses out on Christmas lunch, but it’s better than everyone getting coronavirus.
Take extra precautions, especially among those who are elderly or vulnerable. Fewer faces and bigger spaces mean less risk. It’s best to wear a mask when talking to people face-to-face. Wash your hands regularly. Open up the doors and windows and get the fresh air flowing through. Keep note of who comes.
Keep it short and keep it outdoors. This will prevent you from becoming a household contact who must quarantine for 7+ days because once someone has spent 4 hours with a case in a house, they are a household contact. So have Christmas on the veranda or reduce your time inside a house with others to less than 4 hours. You may still have to get tested, but time in isolation will be shorter.
