1/ Q: Is it going to be possible to see my family for Thanksgiving?
A: It would take a scientific miracle for everything to be hunky-dory by Thanksgiving here in the States & make “Thanksgiving as usual” a reality. You might as well plan on a pandemic Thanksgiving now.
A: It would take a scientific miracle for everything to be hunky-dory by Thanksgiving here in the States & make “Thanksgiving as usual” a reality. You might as well plan on a pandemic Thanksgiving now.
2/ If you want to get your family together, think about ways to reduce the risk. There are 2 general harm reduction methods.
First, do what you can to reduce the risk of transmission. This means wear a mask, keep it short, improve the ventilation, and of course wash hands.
First, do what you can to reduce the risk of transmission. This means wear a mask, keep it short, improve the ventilation, and of course wash hands.
3/ Since our traditional turkey day involves a relatively long, formal, indoor meal, it's tough to think how we will wear a mask & keep it short. So, let's talk about the other way to reduce risk: ensure no one present has COVID in the first place by quarantining before the visit
4/ Let’s revisit the timeline of COVID-19 infection for a little help, using Thanksgiving as an example.
I want to have Grandma over for Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 26th - & I want it to be the traditional sit-down meal, & I want to be 100% sure that no one gives her COVID.
I want to have Grandma over for Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 26th - & I want it to be the traditional sit-down meal, & I want to be 100% sure that no one gives her COVID.
5/ The path to having grandma over safely is to make sure that everyone coming to my Thanksgiving table has NO EXPOSURES for the whole 14 days before November 26th. The magic day to start a personal pre-holiday quarantine is Friday, Nov. 13th.
6/ Everyone in my household, & all my Thanksgiving guests, will have to abstain from any possible exposures-the grocery store, the office, or school--starting on the 13th. This gives us all the full 14 days to observe whether any symptoms have arisen before we are all together.
7/ In addition, just to be sure that we aren’t harboring an asymptomatic infection, we might go get tested for COVID. The best timing to do this would be as late in the 14-day window as possible & still expect to have results back by the 26th.
8/ Right now, in my area, I hear it takes 3 days to get test results back from the community testing center. So we will be tested on November 22nd, leaving a bit of a window for testing to slow down on the holiday week.
We hope this helps the planning process for the holidays!
We hope this helps the planning process for the holidays!
