Canada celebrated its Thanksgiving last month - but experts now say the holiday has led to a surge in coronavirus cases in the country.
Canadians mark the holiday on the second Monday of October, and the weeks since then have seen a steady rise in COVID-19 rates.
Over the past few weeks, both the country and a number of provinces have repeatedly broken their daily records of new cases.
It's now being seen as a lesson for Americans ahead of their own Thanksgiving holiday - as well as for other countries that are set to celebrate Christmas and other holidays in just over a month.
Authorities here have said they're hopeful of the current level five restrictions being lifted by Christmas, but have also suggested it won't be the same holiday as usual this year.
Jason Tetro, a microbiologist with speciality in studying emerging pathogens, spoke to The Hard Shoulder to discuss Canada's recent experience.
He said: "Thanksgiving is a very important time for us here in Canada - we get together with our families, and we usually give thanks for all that has been going on that's very good.
"Unfortunately, it's also a perfect time for spreading of a virus.
"As we've been seeing in the numbers, that virus spread was increased into different age groups - particularly older age groups.
"As we've already found out, the older you get in terms of your age groups the more likely you're about to have hospitalisations and unfortunately deaths."
Numbers 'creeping up'
Mr Tetro said that up until a month before Thanksgiving, the cases of coronavirus were mostly occurring among the 20-30 or 20-40 age groups, depending on provinces.
However, the numbers began to 'creep up' into older age groups in the wake of October's holiday.
He explained that authorities urged Canadians to have their Thanksgiving gatherings outside, but "that wasn't particularly adhered to" - with the autumn weather a bit colder than usual.
He said: "We ended up seeing places where there was already a rise happening in cases explode some 10-15 days later."
Mr Tetro said it's now possible Christmas and holiday celebrations next month won't be the same as usual - but he's hoping they'll have learned from what happened at Thanksgiving.
He suggested: "We can't just simply forego what the guidelines are saying.
"Instead [we need to make] sure we are not putting the people who are greater at risk in any kind of trouble in terms of spread, even if we're trying to celebrate that holiday spirit."
He said it's vital that people know they have the power to limit the spread of the virus, but that means they have to closely follow social distancing and other health advice if they are with other people.
He told Kieran: "[Otherwise] you should essentially not be having those get-togethers.
"I have celebrated Christmas in Europe and also in Great Britain, and I know how important that celebration is to so many people.
"But when you have a virus that's coming around the way it is right now... it's probably best to just put that on pause for this particular year, and celebrate doubly next year."
