A Christmas Holiday Message

It’s only two days to Christmas and we can hardly wait to wish you! It’s the most wonderful time of the year with the fine scent of christmas trees amid the freshly fallen snow. 

So what’s your Christmas going to look like this year with the pandemic precautions and safety measures in place? And without you taking a trip to another city or having a loved one visit you?

We certainly hope you’re avoiding traveling. After all, the current debilitating spike in Covid-19 numbers is mainly down to all the traveling and mingling that happened at Thanksgiving. 

What happened on Thanksgiving...

The CDC and other American health care authorities repeatedly warned us not to travel over Thanksgiving. But many still chose to overlook these warnings, and traveled anyway.  

According to the Transportation Security Administration records,1.2 million travelers passed through U.S. Airport checkpoints just before Thanksgiving. It was then only a matter of days before we saw a significant surge in Covid-19 numbers — new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths —  that are all still continuing to swell. 

And now, once again, the CDC is insisting Americans stay home for the winter holidays and not travel at all. So let’s all prioritze safety, stay at home, and connect and celebrate with our loved ones virtually.

However, in case you are unable to avoid traveling at all,here are the precautions CDC strongly recommends travelers to take.

• Those traveling should get tested for Covid-19 one to three days before traveling and then again three to five days following their return.
• Those who’ve traveled over the holidays should avoid unimportant social/public activities for a week after returning. In case they haven’t been tested, these people should avoid such activities for ten days.
• There is no certainty that testing can keep you safe. The risks of catching the virus are very much around at all times, which is to say (once again) that it is much safer to stay home altogether. But travel can be made less risky with self-isolating and social distancing. 

• Face masks are aMUST.

Once again, we must reiterate that the CDC strongly urges we all stay home for the holidays. Here’s what Cindy Friedman, head of the CDC’s Travelers’ Health Branch, has to say about traveling this time of the year.

“Cases are rising, and the safest thing to do is to postpone holiday travel and stay home. Travel volume was high over Thanksgiving, and even if only a small percentage of those travelers were asymptomatically infected, this can translate into hundreds of thousands of additional infections moving from one community to another.”

So think about it. Stay safe, stay home. For you, your loved ones, and those around you.

In any case, always keep a few spare face masks on you at all times.