This year, gathering with extended family and friends around the holidays brings significant risks due to the pandemic. Public health officials are urging Americans to avoid travel for Thanksgiving and to celebrate only with members of their immediate households.
Dr. Emily Sickbert-Bennett is an epidemiologist and expert on infectious diseases. As Director of Infection Prevention at UNC Medical Center, Sickbert-Bennett has helped lead the effort to keep UNC Health’s patients and staff safe during this pandemic.
While she knows the winter, holiday season is marked and defined by gatherings of family and friends, Sickbert-Bennett said we need to approach those traditions differently this year.
“As we see in our state and our communities, our COVID cases are at an all-time high,” Sickbert-Bennett said. “We’re carefully watching our hospitals to be sure that they don’t reach capacity. COVID transmission won’t halt for the holidays.”
This weekend, the country passed 12 million cases, adding one million new cases in the past week alone. In the Tar Heel State, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported 4,514 new cases on Sunday – the highest number of new cases in one day since the beginning of the pandemic.
The latest virus surge began accelerating across the country in mid-October. It took just over two weeks for the nation to go from eight million cases to nine million on October 30 – going from nine to 10 million took only 10 days. From 10 million to 11 million took just under seven days.
As we head into peak holiday season, Sickbert-Bennett said she is worried about increased spread. She said many features of our loved traditions – like prolonged indoor meals, multiple households coming together and the inability to wear masks while partaking in food and drink – will only offer more opportunities for transmission.
If you are choosing to gather in person this holiday season, Sickbert-Bennett said a negative COVID-19 test doesn’t mean you should skip other prevention measures.
“Even if you do have a negative test, it absolutely does not negate doing all of the other prevention measures that are important – wearing a mask, physical distancing, avoiding crowds in indoor areas and washing your hands frequently,” Sickbert-Bennett said.
She said a negative test only gives you information about a single point in time and does not mean that you will remain negative after that test.
“So this can be very worrisome and we certainly have seen instances in the community and in the hospital-setting where a negative test has given individuals a false sense of security and they have not paid attention to the onset of new signs and symptoms – thinking ‘I tested negative two days ago so this must be nothing,’” Sickbert-Bennett said.
Additionally, when planning a family meal, Sickbert-Bennett said the risk of transmission is still there even if your meal is held outside. She said risks accumulate from the number of people you involve, the amount of time you spend with each other, spacing and the ability to practice prevention strategies.
“Just holding it outdoors does not negate the importance of really thinking through what’s the right number of people,” Sickbert-Bennett said. “The lower the numbers, the less risks, and the less contact you have. Spending shorter amounts of time is safer than longer amounts of time. If you’re not actively eating or drinking, keeping your mask on – even in an outdoor space – is much safer.”
More local and state guidance on how to safely participate in holiday gatherings this year can be found here.
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