Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said Thursday that people should not travel for Thanksgiving, citing fears that holiday celebrations could further spread the coronavirus amid a sharp rise in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
“More than 1 million COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States over the last 7 days,” the CDC wrote in a statement issued Thursday. “As cases continue to increase rapidly across the United States, the safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with.”
Last week, AAA predicted 50 million people in the U.S. will travel for the holiday, which is down 10% from 2019, making it the largest one-year decrease since the Great Recession in 2008. The CDC warning could shelve travelers plans to leave home and force some to celebrate virtually.
While the agency’s latest guidance stresses that “postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others,” it included safety precautions people should take, such as getting a flu shot before the trip, wearing a mask at all times, and bringing extra masks and hand sanitizer.
The CDC also suggested people host their celebration outside and bring their own food, plates, and utensils in order to mitigate spread during dinner.
“What’s at stake is inadvertently someone is infected in that particular household, in that larger family and then spreads it to others, they become infected, and then they go back to their own community, and then that infection is spread to someone else,” Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC’s COVID-19 incident manager, said Thursday.
The new guidance comes on the heels of hitting a grim milestone on Wednesday: More than 250,000 people have died due to COVID-19 in the U.S. Government officials have ramped up appeals for people to celebrate the holiday in their own homes. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said Wednesday that people should “think twice” about indoor gatherings in the coming weeks.
“As we get into the colder weather, we should really think twice about these kind of dinner parties where you’re not sure of whether the people that are in your bubble (are safe),” Fauci told USA Today. “Then, you’re going to start seeing these unanticipated infections related to innocent home gatherings, particularly as we head into the holiday season.”
To date, more than 11.5 million infections and nearly 251,000 deaths due to COVID-19 have been confirmed in the U.S.
