'Tis the season for giving but Lambton's medical officer of health doesn't want to see exchanges of the COVID-19 virus.
Dr. Sudit Ranade said the Ontario lockdown, set to take effect Boxing Day Saturday, requires that we don't have social contact with people outside our households.
He said it's vital we limit our in-person social interactions by taking a different approach this year.
"The safest way to do it is virtual, the next safest way is to really limit the amount of time, don't gather over meals, all of those things are going to be part of it," said Ranade. "Of course the lockdown is going to be even more strict than that. It's going to say, apart from certain exceptions, you really can't have social contacts with people outside of your household"
Dr. Ranade says intentional social gatherings have been the main driver of an unprecedented spike in local cases recently.
He strongly advises against moving up planned Christmas gatherings in advance of the lockdown.
"That's the caution I really ask, which is that if you think we're going to go into lockdown so I'm going to have my gathering early, that would be a big mistake. That's really putting people at risk, it's putting you at risk, your family at risk, your loved ones at risk, and vulnerable people in the community at risk. So please do not move up planned gatherings that you have had to avoid the fact that it might happen during a lockdown," he said.
Dr. Ranade has listed workplace functions, social outings, recreational sports leagues and a meat raffle as events that have contributed to Sarnia-Lambton's unprecedented surge in COVID cases of late.
-With files from Josh Boyce
