Of course Thanksgiving is different this year and that's NOT fun. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its holiday guidance, noting the virus crisis is worsening and that small household gatherings are “an important contributor." The CDC said older adults and others at heightened risk of severe illness should avoid gathering with people outside their households.
That's what happened in Canada, whose Thanksgiving is October 12. A couple of weeks later, their COVID numbers spiked.
But don't cancel Thanksgiving in its entirety. Spending time with loved ones is important for your mental health.
- Keep your gathering small.
- Don't pass around platters of food. It's not that the coronavirus is in the food. It's everyone touching the same plates and utensils.
- Keep the windows open, weather permitting.
- Use spaces and all areas of the house that you can to keep people separate. And eat outside if the weather is nice.
You can also go a little farther:
--Quarantine. The magic day to start a pre-Thanksgiving quarantine is Nov. 13. A strict quarantine would mean no grocery shopping, no working outside the home and no in-person school for 14 days.
--Get tested. The best day to test would be as close to Thanksgiving as possible while still leaving enough time to get results. But a test might not catch a still brewing infection so the best plan is the quarantine for two weeks — the time it can take for symptoms to show up.