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Covid 19 Thanksgiving Info Update

November 22, 2020

The COVID-19 Dilemma: College Students Returning Home for Thanksgiving.
By Susan McDonald
Thanksgiving break, traditionally the first extended return home for most college students each fall as they spend time with family and friends, this year looks like one more hurdle in the COVID-19 marathon.

Many college campuses have been ravaged by the virus, with students learning remotely from their dorm rooms. With the holiday break looming, however, their migration home poses a risk to the loved ones they long to see and their hometown communities.

Being tested for COVID-19 before they leave campus is an important, and recommended, precaution. Many colleges are requiring a negative test before students can leave campus for the break. Testing, however, is not a guarantee because of the virus' incubation period, which can stretch up to 14 days, according to Dr. Faiqa Cheema, an infectious disease specialist with Hartford HealthCare. "Even if you may have tested negatively on the campus, it will come to a point where you could be at the highest risk of transmitting the virus when you're sitting down to have Thanksgiving dinner," she said.

She suggested students self-quarantine from now to the holiday and wear a mask around family members and friends when they are home. To get home from campus, she said driving is the safest mode of transportation when possible. "If you make the decision to fly home for Thanksgiving, it comes with its own set of risks," Dr. Cheema said. "To combat them" she added, "You're wearing your mask, you're not eating on the plane, you're using your hand sanitizer and avoid sitting in an airport with crowds."

It might also be a different sort of holiday reunion this year, with fewer people around the table in order to lower the risk of COVID-19 transmission from the college campus. She suggested families discuss the celebration and examine risk closely.

"I know college kids want to come home and one of the issues of COVID-19 is the profound sense of isolation and separation we're all feeling," Dr. Cheema said, although she added that to be safe, students should probably not see any family members who are over the age of 65 or have underlying health issues. Instead, she urged virtual visits to reconnect with loved ones or outdoor meals to benefit from the fresh air and allow for physical distancing.

Downscaling the Holidays: How to Plan Your First �Bubble' Thanksgiving.

The supermarket industry fears a shortage of turkeys this Thanksgiving as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic keeps more people than ever at home, cooking for themselves instead of traveling for a larger, traditional family gathering.

That is exactly what infectious disease experts would like to see, but whether it's the plan for your family, keeping safety top of mind can help prevent a surge in infection a week or so after the holiday.

Keith Grant, APRN, director of infection prevention with Hartford HealthCare, said upticks in the illness have become predictable after holidays or holiday weekends in the last six months. Looking ahead, he asked people to reexamine their traditional feast and revamp it for safety's sake.

"Conventional Thanksgiving is a high-risk activity," he said. Ideally, he said, it would be just those living in your home who gather around the roast turkey that day, but being flexible with arrangements � eat outside, wear masks whenever not eating, use technology to "connect" or segregate people at inperson fetes based on their risk � would help prevent disease spread, he said.

"You should identify risk factors for each guest, whether they have comorbidities, etc. It's risk stratification," he said of planning a gathering.

For people traveling a distance to celebrate the holiday, including students coming home from college, Grant said they should plan to be tested for COVID-19 seven to 14 days before they plan to travel and stay home if they test positive. While he stressed the value of wearing masks and creating other physical barriers to the infectious particles that spread the virus, physical distancing, hand hygiene and avoiding potluck meals, Grant concluded that the safest option is a smaller dinner with your designated "bubble" of the people living with you.

Dr. Ajay Kumar, chief medical officer with Hartford HealthCare, added that holidays tend to leave people feeling relaxed, which can be dangerous when they fail to follow safety practices. "We worry about multiple indoor get-togethers. We're not worried as much about the schools, but we do worry about people's behavior," Dr. Kumar said, adding that the trend he's been watching with COVID-19 infections lately starts with relaxed interactions of younger people, who then pass infection along to the elderly who are then requiring hospitalization.

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