translated from Spanish: I hug the mom not the guy: the keys to the New Year

Until now the tradition was immovable: at 00:00 the hugs arrived and then spaced for a party that in many cases ended when the next morning was advanced. This year, however, the celebration of the New Year will be very different. With the context of pandemic and confinement, many of the rites that looked like customs will have to remain in the past. This is at least raised by Dr. Christian Palavecino, Medical Technologist, researcher and professor at the Central University, who warns hoyxhoy that “the greatest number of contagion occurs intro domiciliaryly”. Despite this, the specialist is aware that it is impossible to expect people not to meet to celebrate, so it becomes necessary to have considerations.” People are going to get together and that can’t be avoided. But since we’re going to get together, let’s get it right. So if we’re going to get together, let’s pick the biggest family home, the one with the patio,” part explaining Palavecino. “And let’s try not to get all together, not all families in one house. Let’s try to divide from groups, from two families to house or one thing like that.” As for the capacity, the researcher indicates that, being a relative figure, the use of common sense becomes necessary. “It depends on the size of the yard. It may be one more person, one less person, but try to think about 10 or 15 people depending on the size of the place,” he explains. “We have to use the criterion a little bit, we have already been using the criterion for 8 or 10 months. So, if we’re going to get together, let’s try to do it as responsiblely as possible. Let it be in a wide place, let’s keep a certain distance, try to expand the table, make it bigger or put two or three tables, not sit together.” HugsAkin is aware that there will be meetings, Dr. Palavecino makes a call to be aware of the classic New Year’s hugs.” Look, we can hug each other among the people we live together. The family of Dad, Mom and children we live together. Among those we hugged well,” says the specialist. “But to the other relatives who come to visit, I take no more. Everyone understands, in the end we all know what it’s about. No one is going to feel past wearing or leaving aside.” As for the party, the specialist is decisive. “That’s where things change. The party, the celebration itself, I think it would have to be postponed,” he warns. “Let it be a family dinner, with music, but something quieter. Because you get very happy, you start drinking and you already forget all the rules, all the rules. The recommendation would be to try not to celebrate so much, with more responsibility. Because it’s true, one when he’s with a couple of drinks on him loses a little bit of the notion of responsibility and all the barriers go down.” Rapid tests have now become popular. Can they be a pre-family reunion option? Look, it would be nice to get tested. The problem with tests is that they can give you a false sense of security when you get negative, because they have low sensitivity. That means they don’t detect everyone who’s really positive. So if you take the test and you come out positive you’re going to stay at home, but if you do it and it goes negative it gives you a false feeling that you’re not infecting. Then I don’t know if they’re that good. The perception of risk can be modified. That is, it decreases the perception of risk being that these tests do not have a sensitivity high enough to ensure that indeed all those who do so will have accurate results. It’s not going to detect all the positives. Now, there are some quick tests that what they detect are antibodies. The antibodies tell you is that the person was infected. If you have antibodies, you probably think you can’t get infected anymore, and you can’t get infected anymore, that’s where it could be. But the perception of risk decreases, so maybe they’re not as good because of the false sense of security they give you. The main recommendations are to try to maintain the physical distance, not the social distance, because it can be socialized, but the physical distance must try to maintain it. The use of the mask is mandatory, but it is not so that you do not get infected. The mask doesn’t prevent you from getting infected, it prevents people who are infected from contaminating fewer surfaces with saliva, for example. If you’re sick and have your mask on, you’re going to pollute fewer areas. Then it’s better to use it because we don’t know who’s infected. It’s better to keep using it. And then the other thing is very frequent hand washing because one of the most common ways you take the virus to your mucous membranes, either the bgo, eyes, nose, and you take it with your hands. Then you have to have a frequent hand wash, keep using the masks and the physical distance between people. The other thing is to try not to be confined to a closed environment with a group of people for a long time. That’s extremely important. If you can party outdoors, much better. And now that it’s hot, even better.

Original source in Spanish