As the holidays brought many of us closer to friends and family — perhaps in large gatherings where there was lots of hugging, laughing and eating together — the inevitable early-winter surge of illnesses is now upon us.

In fact, ahead of the New Year holiday, Memorial Health System announced it was experiencing a high surge in patients with respiratory illnesses. For them, it meant it was time to implement visitor restrictions during what it called “respiratory illness season.” For hospitals, that means limiting the number of visitors per patient, asking that visitors be over age 18 and showing no signs of illness, encouraging the use of masks and putting more restrictions in place for specialized units and specific illnesses.

But the change is also a good reminder to the rest of us going about our daily lives. We know now the importance of making little changes such as washing hands often with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds each time; and using hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol IF soap and water is not an option.

Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth; cover your mouth and nose with a tissue if you are sneezing or coughing — and then immediately dispose of the tissue. Avoid contact with those who are sick, but also maintain social distance in general.

Clean and disinfect those surfaces with which you have the most contact. Think about it: When was the last time you disinfected your cell phone? For most of us, our phones have a LOT of contact with our hands, ears, maybe mouth … and we don’t always think about what we have just touched before we pick up our phones, dial a number and then bring it up close to our faces.

One final piece of advice this season, and one we must all do a better job remembering, is to stay home if WE are sick (unless it is to get medical attention).

There is more than one illness that can lead to significant respiratory distress and even death for those in vulnerable and at-risk populations. We all bear a responsibility in slowing their spread and working to keep ourselves and those around us safer this winter. Do your part.