The Atlantic - Copy & paste job about why it's not a good idea to visit your relatives this year.

PRESENTED BY WALMART

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Isabel Fattal Assistant editor

Haley Weiss Assistant editor

It’s a make-or-break week for America. A record surge in COVID-19 cases has made traveling for the holidays a dangerous proposition, but sales of plane and train tickets suggest that plenty of people are risking the trek. We’ve collected pieces of guidance and comfort from our staff for wherever your week takes you—even if it’s just to the fridge.

The COVID-19 Outbreak (BETTMAN / GETTY / THE ATLANTIC) At hospitals, a sense of chaos is on the horizon. The University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha—a facility that our colleague Ed Yong called “America’s best-prepared hospital”—has designated an entire building for COVID-19 care. Without other large hospitals nearby, places like UNMC risk reaching capacity in the coming weeks. “We can prepare over and over for a wave of patients,” one physician told Ed, “but we can’t prepare for a tsunami.” Thinking about what all this means for you and your loved ones can be daunting. There’s no perfectly safe way to gather, but if you’re struggling to figure out the limits, our staff has answers for many of your Turkey Day questions. Should I cancel Thanksgiving? “I think a lot of people are just feeling tired right now,” our podcast producer Katherine Wells acknowledged on the latest episode of our podcast Social Distance. “We’ve been doing this for six months. Can I just have one single meal with my family? But the answer is you can’t, not the way you did before.” How much safer is an outdoor meal than an indoor meal? “Much, much safer,” James Hamblin writes. There’s no safe way to eat indoors with family and friends you don’t live with—and cutting down your invite list won’t change that. “Even if you accept the risk of a dinner party, you likely haven’t consulted with the person who’ll be bagging your groceries a week later,” Rachel Gutman writes. Bundle up and stick to the outdoors. Is it riskier to fly during Thanksgiving? Crowded airports and packed holiday flights mean a higher risk of exposure, even if flying has otherwise been a manageable pandemic activity (with proper precautions). “Traveling vigilantly, only to arrive at someone’s home and act as though there is no pandemic, is a serious misallocation of anxiety,” James warns. Is it morally defensible to get a coronavirus test in order to see family, given testing shortages? The short answer is no. With hospitalizations at an all-time high, making sure that tests remain available for frontline workers and COVID-19 patients is an urgent priority. Barring circumstances that make holding off on family reunions for a few months impossible, wait until next year. Read James’s full FAQ for this pandemic Thanksgiving.