COVID-19: Thanksgiving

Hello Everyone!

It is hard to believe, but here it is: Thanksgiving is next week.

It’s been almost 10 months since the pandemic changed the way we live and interact with each other. “COVID-fatigue” is now a part of our vocabularies, and it permeates everything we do and think about.

As I am monitoring the news, I am becoming increasingly more alarmed by the rising number of COVID-19 cases and deaths across the country. We knew it was coming, and now it’s here. The curve is growing exponentially, and the situation is quickly becoming more dangerous, as COVID-19 hospitalizations are rapidly going up, and our healthcare system is being stress-tested again.

More than ever we have to be vigilant and cautious. Knowing what we now know about the virus and its transmission, it is in our best interest NOT to gather for holidays with people outside of the immediate households, unless we are not gathering inside, remain at least 6-8 feet apart from each other at all times, and limit our gatherings to really small groups.

“But what if I get tested before I go to visit my family?” 

There is this notion of false security, that if one gets a negative test few days before the gathering, it’s okay to attend a family dinner. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, and here is why. Let’s assume I got exposed to someone with asymptomatic disease sometime between today and next Tuesday. In anticipation of attending the family gathering for Thanksgiving, I patiently wait in line for 6 hours to get tested two days before the holiday. I feel healthy and get a negative result 1-2 days later. It’s all good and I am on my way. The problem is, my negative test doesn’t mean I don’t have the virus. It only means that at the time of my test the number of replicated viral cells in my nasal mucosa was yet insufficient to register and trigger a positive reaction. It takes between 5 to 9 days for the virus to show up on a test. I am on my way to see those I miss and love, whilst the virus continues to replicate in my respiratory tract, making me more contagious by the hour, and by the time I am around the table, I am highly infectious and a grave danger to every single person in the room.

So, what could I have done to be certain I am not contagious?  I could have isolated (like really “isolated”) myself at home for at least 14 days and then had the test done before traveling, to make sure I don’t have the virus. As we are way past the 14-day mark before the Thanksgiving, this is a moot scenario at best, but there are other holidays in December!, and if this is something you want and can pull off before the next one comes around, you will feel more certain you are not risking lives of others, by merely being in the same room as they are.

As the holidays are approaching, we will mourn thousands of those that perished in this pandemic. We will also remind ourselves how much is there to be grateful for. In our family Thanksgiving is a time to reflect, as well as it is a time to celebrate the abundant blessings in our lives. Personally, I will be giving thanks for the amazing gifts in my life: my family, my friends, and every one of you.

Stay well and be safe.

With all my love,

ZMK