Start Quarantining Now If You Plan to Gather for the Holidays
Health officials are once again recommending that Americans forgo their holiday travel plans this month in order to quell the rapid spread of Covid-19 nationwide. The recommendation is to celebrate with the people in your household.
The reason for this guidance is that virus cases are spiking to emergency levels. On Wednesday, the United States hit a record of 3,000 deaths from Covid-19 in a single day.
If Thanksgiving travel is any indication, many people likely will still decide to travel to be with families this month. If that’s the case for you, one of the best things you can do to lower risk is to start taking precautions right now. If, say, you celebrate Christmas, now is the time to become very conservative in your activities: Avoid indoor dining at restaurants, work out at home instead of inside a gym, wear a mask outside your household, and limit your contacts.
Ideally you would also quarantine (states have different requirements) and follow testing protocols closer to the celebration. But a Covid-19 infection can take some time to appear on a test. That’s why it’s important to ensure that your likelihood of getting infected in the first place is very low. For more tips on safely navigating the holidays, I recommend this interview between my colleague Yasmin Tayag and Lisa…
