Tripledemic Tips: How to Avoid Getting Sick at the Office Holiday Party

The surge in cases of COVID, the flu, and RSV may be leading some companies to cancel their upcoming holiday parties, but not many.

Health officials have yet to declare this tripledemic a national emergency, but they are urging that everyone take precautions when gathering together this holiday season.

There is also an increasing desire among many to get together and celebrate after the pandemic, particularly office workers who have not had a holiday gathering in three years. But is it safe?

"Everything is back. Everybody’s excited," Alyssa Pettinato of Alinato Events tells Inside Edition's Ann Mercogliano.

She quickly adds how that that the companies "throwing parties are taking precautions."

Pettinato shares a few of these tips for those hoping to have a happy and healthy holiday season.

"If you’ve been traveling extensively, you might want to refrain," Pettinato says. "If you don’t feel good, do not come. And if you are feeling off, you know, get tested. If you’re feeling uncomfortable, wear a mask."

Those little things could make a world of difference, particularly for co-workers who might have small children or immunocompromised relatives.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spoke about the surges in these respiratory illnesses during a press briefing on Monday. 

"There has already been at least 8.7 million illnesses, 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths from flu," Dr. Walensky told reporters.

She also noted that RVS cases were growing in certain areas of the country, and that the Thanksgiving holiday led to a surge in COVID cases as most health officials predicted.

"We now face yet another surge of illness, another moment of overstretched capacity and, really, one of tragic and often preventable sadness," Dr. Walensky said.

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