As holidays near, the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, putting families in a quandary about celebrations and travel - The Washington Post

It’s a big affair: 35 family members arrive by Christmas Eve.

As a physician and the president-elect of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Alexander is fully aware of the risks of holiday gatherings in the middle of a pandemic and the vulnerability of her nonagenarian mother.

“Covid doesn’t care that it’s a holiday, and unfortunately covid is on the rise across the nation,” she said.

“Now is not the time to let our guard down and say it’s the holiday and let’s be merry.

Now, the United States is barreling toward another inflection point: a holiday season dictated by the calendar and demanded by tradition.

The anticipated surge in interstate travel, family gatherings and indoor socializing is expected to facilitate the spread of covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Superspreader events have gotten a lot of attention, but it’s the prosaic meals with family and friends that are driving up caseloads.

The scientists are not telling people to cancel their holiday plans, necessarily.

Instead, people will need to make serious adjustments as they calculate the risks and rewards of holiday gatherings.

It’s about figuring out how to balance various risks and keeping risks as low as possible,” Harvard epidemiologist Julia Marcus said.

“It depends on what risk you want to take.”.

Donald Milton, a University of Maryland professor of environmental health, said one of his medical colleagues decided to cancel the usual family plans for Thanksgiving: “He’s buying a very small turkey.

Fauci said he respects the decisions of people who choose to get together even if some family members have elevated risk factors.

My mental health of seeing my children or grandchildren is so important to me that I’m going to take the risk.’ I have no problem with that if that’s what people want to do,” Fauci said.

Fauci has revealed that his family will not be getting together for Thanksgiving because, at age 79, he is at elevated risk for a severe outcome from covid-19.

His three adult daughters would have had to fly to and from Washington to come home, potentially becoming exposed in transit, and the family agreed the risk wasn’t worth it.

“We want to help people find the lowest risk place they can be in their lives that’s healthy and sustainable for them.

But the very first thing people should do is talk through the issue and decide on a policy of risk tolerance, she said.

The CDC says people with “increased risk” from the coronavirus should not attend in-person holiday gatherings.

Who are “older adults?” The CDC simply states — accurately — that risk increases with age, noting people in their 50s have a greater risk than people in their 40s, and people in their 60s and 70s a greater risk than people in their 50s.

Taken literally, the CDC guidance implies that a very large percentage of the American population should not join friends and family at the holiday table.

Although young people are much less likely to have a severe illness, it’s not impossible.

Fauci said he isn’t trying to ruin everyone’s holiday season

“I don’t want to come across as the Grinch that stole Thanksgiving,” Fauci said, but added, “It is something that people need to be concerned about.”

In this case, it’s the health of the nation,” she said

It’s not what I want — but this is the pandemic we’ve been handed, so we’re going to have to celebrate differently.”