Lunar New Year 2026

Original publication date: December 29, 2025

Updated: December 29, 2025

Key points

• Expect large crowds; this can increase your risk of illness and injury.
• Reduce health risks by practising good hand hygiene, avoiding contact with sick people, and eating/drinking safely.
• Know where to access medical care and carry emergency contact information, including details for Canadian offices abroad.
• If you feel sick during or after travel, wear a mask, limit contact with others, and notify health professionals about your symptoms and travel history.

Current situation

• Lunar New Year 2026 begins on February 17, 2026.
• Lunar New Year is celebrated for several days in many countries. Millions are expected to come together to celebrate cultural traditions, spend time with family, and wish for good luck in the new year.
• This travel health notice is applied to: Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, North Korea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Learn more:
Mass gatherings (large-scale events)

Recommendations

Before you leave

Talk to a health care provider or visit a travel health clinic preferably about 6 weeks before your departure date to get personalized health advice. Even if your travel date is coming up soon, it’s still worthwhile to make an appointment.

Discuss with the health care provider:

• whether your routine vaccinations are up-to-date. Many require a booster as an adult
• which pre-travel vaccines or medications may be right for you
• the medications you're currently taking or planning to bring with you

Review the Travel Advice and Advisories page and travel health notices for your destination.

Travel health notices
Travel advice and advisories by destination

Pack a travel health kit and consider purchasing travel insurance.

Travel health kit
Travel insurance

Sign up with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service to stay connected with the Government of Canada in case of an emergency abroad or an emergency at home.

Register as a Canadian Abroad

Learn more:
Tips for healthy travel

During your trip

Be prepared for emergencies

• The risk of accidental injury increases in large crowds (e.g., stampedes).
• If possible, avoid very crowded areas.
• Know where to find medical care if needed.
• Carry information about any existing medical conditions.

The Government of Canada’s offices abroad can assist Canadian citizens in case of an emergency. Carry the contact information for the nearest Canadian office. The Emergency Watch and Response Centre in Ottawa is open 24/7.

Emergency Watch and Response Centre

Clean your hands regularly

Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use a hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.

Clean your hands to help reduce the spread of infectious diseases

Practise food and water precautions

The most common illnesses in travellers are caused by eating food, drinking beverages, or ingesting water that is contaminated with bacteria, parasites or viruses. 

Eat and drink safely abroad

Take precautions around animals

Some infections can spread directly from animals to people, like rabies or bird flu (avian influenza). Others don’t spread directly from animals but can infect people who visit areas animals have contaminated with their droppings or body fluids.

To reduce your risk of getting sick:

• avoid contact with animals like stray dogs, livestock (such as pigs and cows), monkeys, snakes, rodents, birds, and bats.
• stay away from places where animal waste can build up, such as caves
• avoid eating undercooked meat

Avian influenza
Rabies: Travel health advice

Protect yourself from person-to-person infections

You can reduce your risk of getting or spreading respiratory infections by:

• staying away from others if you’re sick
• wearing a well-fitted mask, especially if you're not feeling well
• covering your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your elbow, not your hands

Respiratory infectious diseases: How to reduce the spread with personal protective measures 

Protect yourself from insect bites

Many diseases are spread by the bites of mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and flies. You can reduce your risk by:

• using an approved bug spray (insect repellent) on exposed skin
• wearing light-coloured, loose clothing made of tightly woven materials like nylon or polyester

Insect bite and pest prevention
Personal insect repellents

Learn more:
Tips for healthy travel
If you become sick or injured while travelling outside Canada or after your return

Returning to Canada

If you begin to feel sick during your travel back to Canada, you should:

• put on a well-fitting respirator or mask, if possible
• limit contact with other people, if possible
• inform the flight attendant and/or a border services officer as soon as possible. You may be referred to a quarantine officer for a health assessment and further direction

If you begin to feel sick after you return to Canada, you should:

• limit contact with other people
• call a health care provider and notify them about your symptoms before an in-person appointment, so they can take proper precautions, if necessary
• tell the health care provider where you have travelled

Learn more:
If you become sick or injured while travelling outside Canada or after your return