In a raw, empathetic and optimistic address to Americans, President-elect Joe Biden urged them to “hang on” as they faced a long, hard winter and with coronavirus cases spiking across the country.
The U.S. added more than one million cases in each of the past two weeks for the first time.
Health officials are urging Americans to skip “Drinksgiving.”
Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and vaccines in development.
A Thanksgiving like no other
Americans are preparing for what will be, for many, one of the strangest and most anxiety-filled Thanksgiving holidays of their lives.
They have agonized over travel plans, the size of guest lists, testing, ventilation and the health and safety of their friends and family — all while watching coronavirus cases and deaths skyrocket around them.
The holiday arrives as the surge in the Midwest this fall has grown into a coast-to-coast disaster and new infections soar in cities like Baltimore, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Miami. Across the country, the number of new cases has never been higher, with more than 175,000 a day, on average over the past week. Deaths topped 2,200 yesterday, the most since early May.
The New York Times
Public health experts are worried about a calamitous post-Thanksgiving bloat in infection numbers — and that may still happen — but a pair of surveys from The New York Times suggests that Americans are taking the threat from gatherings seriously.
In a survey of more than 150,000 people, conducted by the global data and survey firm Dynata at the request of The Times, only around 27 percent of Americans said they planned to dine with people outside their household. That number aligns with the results of a separate informal Times survey of epidemiologists. Out of 635 public health experts, only around 21 percent planned to celebrate Thanksgiving with people outside their household.
The Dynata survey, though, found big regional differences. In parts of Nevada, only about 9 percent of people planned to eat with someone outside their household, while in parts of North Carolina, more than 60 percent did.
There are also partisan splits similar to what we saw in surveys about mask-wearing this summer. People who identified as Democrats were much less likely to be planning a multi-household Thanksgiving.
As for what lies ahead for the country, that depends, in part, on what happens tomorrow.
With vaccines still months away, and hospitals in many areas already full, public health experts and local government officials continue to beg people to celebrate responsibly. The country is on pace to reach 13 million known cases in the coming days.
“Thanksgiving hasn’t happened yet,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. “People can still change their plans and change the outcomes. We don’t have to have superspreader events at homes.”
Enjoying a scaled-down holiday
A couple in New York City celebrated Thanksgiving with friends over Zoom earlier this week.Scott Heins/Getty Images
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with the nation’s top public health experts agree: Thanksgiving should ideally be with just your immediate family this year.
If you plan on staying home tomorrow, here are a few ways to make your holiday shine nonetheless.
Scale down: “Tiny is the new big for Thanksgiving 2020,” writes Melissa Clark, a Times food columnist. She has heaps of advice for downsizing traditional Thanksgiving recipes — like cooking turkey thighs instead of a whole bird or serving pumpkin sticky toffee pudding in place of pie. (Take a look at her suggested menu for two and other more manageable recipes.) Small-scale cooking is the perfect opportunity for children to start developing cooking skills. Here’s how to get them involved.
Keep a tradition alive: The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is still taking place, albeit without a live audience and squeezed onto one block, instead of two miles. But for those enjoying it on television from home, the experience should be joyous. It runs from 9 a.m. to noon in all times zones.
Spice up your video chat. Here are some great conversation starters that have nothing to do with the virus (How are you dressing for the office or at home now?) and five games you can play with relatives before or after dinner.
Get in the holiday spirit while you cook (or wait for takeout): Ira Glass selected seven great episodes of “This American Life” for Thanksgiving listening, including what he called “my favorite interview, possibly my best, I’ve ever done.” We also have these best Thanksgiving movies to bring the holiday’s food and family traditions right to your screen.
Take a nap: Our restaurant critic Pete Wells makes the case for destigmatizing the post-turkey crash and shares these six steps to a great Thanksgiving nap.
Resurgences
A company in Malaysia that makes disposable gloves for protection against the coronavirus has been hit by a major outbreak among its workers, many of them foreign laborers who live in crowded dormitories.
The N.F.L. has moved the Thanksgiving night showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers to Sunday afternoon after nearly a dozen players and staff members on the Ravens tested positive for the virus.
The C.D.C. is urging Americans to avoid all travel to Mexico as the virus surges there.
Here’s a roundup of restrictions in all 50 states.
What else we’re following
The New York Times created a tool where you can build a dashboard and track coronavirus cases in the places you care about.
With the virus spreading rapidly in much of the U.S., overwhelmed local health officials are scaling back contact tracing efforts or even abandoning them altogether, saying they can’t keep up.
A Chinese firm is seeking permission to market a vaccine in the country before it has completed trials.
Doctors and nurses on the front lines are grappling with Covid combat fatigue.
Filipinos are just 4 percent of the nursing population in the U.S., but make up nearly one-third of deaths among nurses, CNN reports.
“I know I’m going to be lonely”: New Yorkers plan solo Thanksgiving holidays.
Another member of President Trump’s campaign legal team, Boris Epshteyn, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Nick Saban, the University of Alabama’s head football coach, tested positive, for real this time.
The New York Times
