 As viruses, such as COVID-19 and influenza, are on the rise this coming Christmas, something you may want to consider is some safe hygiene practices brought to you by the Pike County Health Department. Tuesday, we spoke with Public Health Director Tamley Riley about these practices and how they can keep you and your family safe. Well, you know, Christmas, New Year's and other winter holidays are around the corner, as we all know. So, for best practices from the public health perspective, you know, what we would ask the public to do is, of course, ideally, we would hope that families and individuals and groups that are gathering, you know, would be fully vaccinated. So our number one recommendation would be, you know, to seek vaccination. But if you haven't sought vaccination, and even if you have, we would recommend that you seek testing. If you have that available, testing would be best if you're going to gather, you know, families and larger groups in an enclosed, you know, indoor setting. Testing would be ideal if you could do that prior to your get-together. And also, if you're traveling, it would be best if you tested, you know, prior to travel. And then once you're together as a family or a group for the holiday seasons, what I would recommend is that, you know, pay close attention to spacing, you know, if you can maintain that good six feet of social distancing, wear a mask if it is congested, you're unable to space, and, you know, wash your hands frequently and be cognizant of others who may be elderly or at high risk if they're compromised, and just wash your hands frequently and keep your nose and mouth covered with the mask if you're around those types of individuals for sure. Riley adds that you can also get a COVID-19 and influenza vaccine at the Pike County Health Department. For a vaccine or for more information, you can call 606-437-5500. For Mountain Top News, I'm Joel Korgel.