Coronavirus: Giving thanks, safely
Health officials are dreading Thanksgiving this year, as the surging virus threatens to become even worse because of interstate travel and large family gatherings.
The Times has assembled guidance on how to navigate this year’s holiday season if you plan to travel, from the types of coronavirus tests available for travelers to how to choose the safest seat on a plane. If you’re visiting relatives, you should expect to go into quarantine, with strict statewide requirements. (As a reminder, experts generally suggest two weeks for a safe quarantine. So for Thanksgiving, you should have started yesterday.)
For college students, who may not have the option to stay on campus, it’s crucial to isolate themselves even if they test negative for the virus before traveling. “Their arrival on Wednesday with plans to see grandma on Thursday could pose a huge risk,” David Rubin, a pediatrician and public health expert at the University of Pennsylvania, told our colleagues.
The actual Thanksgiving meal should look significantly different this year, experts advised, with lots of fresh air (through open windows or by hosting the meal outside), a small guest list and as short a celebration as possible. The Times’s Tara Parker-Pope writes that all guests should wear masks whenever they’re not eating and should all use separate utensils.
You might be weighing whether to skip the family gathering altogether, and how to break that news to a disappointed relative. That conversation should happen as soon as possible, experts told the Times’s Christina Caron. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, told Tara that his three adult daughters had decided to skip the holidays this year to avoid putting him and his wife at risk. “You don’t want to be the Grinch that stole Thanksgiving,” he said. “But this may not be the time to have a big family gathering.”
The New York Times