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What advice do you have for safely spending the holidays with family?

Question: With Thanksgiving coming up, what advice do you have for safely spending the holidays with family?

Answer: I talked some about family visits way back in Q&A of 5/29 #Family [Note: Medium is not all that user friendly for finding old posts. When you click on the embedded link, do a word search for #Family and you’ll quickly come to the 5/29 post.] With the holidays approaching and community transmission on the rise, it remains an important topic. Yesterday, Dr. Lena Wen wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post that describes some of the issues and mitigation measures a person/family could take. Here’s a list of the most to least safe ways to celebrate:

  1. The most stringent approach is have in-person Thanksgiving with those you live with and virtual Thanksgiving with everyone else. I know a lot of folks won’t choose that option.
  2. The next most stringent approach is to ask everyone who is attending to self-quarantine for 14 days before Thanksgiving and get tested shortly before coming. In this scenario, for example, going to the grocery store would be fine, but going to a restaurant would not. For plenty of folks, especially those with college kids coming home, those who work outside the home, and those who have kids physically back in school, this approach is untenable.
  3. Next up is the harm mitigation approach most of us are more likely to try. Here we must remember that increased risk comes with more people in confined spaces with limited air circulation. So to limit risk:
  • Limit the number of attendees (and try not to get your feelings hurt if some guests opt out of coming or if you’re not invited this year!);
  • Be sure no one comes (and you don’t host) if they/you have been recently exposed or have been feeling unwell;
  • Keep Thanksgiving outdoors;
  • Keep folks sitting and mingling more spaced than usual;
  • Avoid close contact, including hugs and close talking
  • Avoid loud talking or shouting (like when your uncle gets really into a football game and starts shouting at the tv!; no! if possible, keep the football off!)
  • Have one person serve the meal (to limit different people touching serving utensils);
  • If you can’t have Thanksgiving outdoors, try to keep the windows open and air circulating inside to avoid stagnant air and the possibility of airborne transmission;
  • If guests are indoors, including to use the restroom, have them wear masks (of course, they’ll need to remove them to eat.)
  • If guests can’t keep 6+ feet of distance outdoors, have them wear masks.
  • CDC offers a few more tips for gatherings here.