With the holiday season upon us, people have begun planning their celebrations for this year. Typically, this would include visiting family and friends, attending or hosting large gatherings, and celebrating with holiday activities. However, as Covid-19 cases surge, not only in Pennsylvania but around the country, people must adapt how they will celebrate this year to adhere to health and safety mandates. Mainly, people will have to adjust to the travel restrictions in place.
For many, Thanksgiving is a time to gather with loved ones to celebrate. Unfortunately, this involves people within close proximity of each other, sharing a meal, and sometimes traveling to different states to be with each other. Normally, these things aren’t a problem, but with Covid cases on the rise, holidays such as Thanksgiving led to concerns about the spread of the virus. To prevent this, the CDC recommended that people refrain from traveling, as staying home is the best protection. The CDC also recommended that those who wished to travel check travel restrictions in the states they planned to visit. While in state, the CDC highly encourages everyone to wear a mask and maintain a six feet social distance from people in public settings.
The Department of Health in the state of Pennsylvania also created a list of regulations that travelers are required to follow if they choose to travel during the holiday season to help prevent the spread of Covid. Travelers visiting or returning home must receive a negative Covid-19 test or quarantine for 14 days. The Department of Health also recommends that if there are holiday gatherings, they should be limited to no more than ten people. Bringing individual utensils was a recommendation to limit shared contact with food and serving utensils. While these precautions will make the holiday season look and feel different, they are all in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and to keep your loved ones safe.
The good news is that while it is difficult to visit friends and family this holiday season, there is still a way to “see” them. Zoom announced that on Thanksgiving day (November 26) they would lift the 40-minute limit they usually have on their conferences to ensure family gatherings wouldn’t get cut short.
Many students at GA have taken it upon themselves to prevent the spread of Covid to keep the community safe. For example, Elaine Li says that her family is not planning on traveling at all during the holidays, explaining that “right now Covid-19 is spiking so we need to make sure we all social distance and try to stay in quarantine.” She also says that her family is worried about traveling because they “don’t want to get Covid from others, but [they] also don’t want to put others at risk.” Elaine mentions that we must adhere to state guidelines, “whether we like it or not,” to keep everyone safe. Zara Bhatt and her family also aren’t planning on visiting relatives because they “don’t think it’s safe to go anywhere or for family to visit.” Danika Staples and her family typically have relatives over at their house, but this year they “probably won’t have as many people over” to adhere to guidelines and prevent themselves and their family from exposure.
As Covid cases continue to rise, it is important that this holiday season, families find alternatives to their travel plans. Even though this is not optimal for many people, it is what is best to keep the community safe and healthy.
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