CDC on Thanksgiving: Don’t Travel, Don’t Cook Together, Wear Masks

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is telling Americans that the best plan for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday is no plan.

“CDC is recommending against travel during the Thanksgiving period,” Dr. Henry Walke, CDC coronavirus incident manager, said in a CNBC report. “For Americans who decide to travel, CDC recommends doing so as safely as possible by following the same recommendations for everyday living.”

“[There is] no more important time than now for each and every American to redouble our efforts to watch our distance, wash our hands and, most importantly, wear a mask,” Walke said.

Walke said the CDC is worried that if people travel they won’t stay socially distanced while waiting in line to board a bus, train, or plane. 

He also warned that 30 to 40 percent of infections come from people without symptoms and even said visiting family could result in losing a loved one.

“From an individual household level, what’s at stake is basically increased chance of one of your loved ones becoming sick and then hospitalized and dying,” Walke said. “We certainly don’t want to see that happen.”

But if you do plan a gathering on Thursday, the CDC updated its recommendations:

If having guests to your home, be sure that people follow the steps that everyone can take to make Thanksgiving safer. These steps include:

• Have a small outdoor meal with family and friends who live in your community.
• Limit the number of guests.
• Have conversations with guests ahead of time to set expectations for celebrating together.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and items between use.
• If celebrating indoors, bring in fresh air by opening windows and doors, if possible. You can use a window fan in one of the open windows to blow air out of the window. This will pull fresh air in through the other open windows.
• Limit the number of people in food preparation areas.
• Have guests bring their own food and drink.
• If sharing food, have one person serve food and use single-use options, like plastic utensils.

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