Minimizing Thanksgiving gathering risks during a pandemic
Every November, families and friends usually host large gatherings to celebrate Thanksgiving over a meal typically consisting of turkey, stuffing and potatoes.
This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are advising Americans to avoid traveling for Thanksgiving and to strongly consider the risks of attending a gathering.
Here is how students around Montgomery County are adapting their Thanksgiving plans to minimize health risks and follow CDC guidelines:
Celebrating with their immediate family
Many students have opted to exclusively celebrate Thanksgiving with their immediate family to eliminate the risks of traveling and avoid the logistics of COVID-19 testing and quarantines.
Richard Montgomery High School sophomore Shairee Arora usually meets multiple families in New Jersey for Thanksgiving. “This year, we’ll still cook and everything, but it’ll just be me and my parents,” Arora said.
Col. Zadok Magruder High School junior Kaitlyn Green expressed similar plans, stating that she and her family were going to cook dinner at home instead of traveling to her aunt’s.
Every year, Montgomery Blair High School sophomore Samantha Jaffe travels to upstate New York to visit her grandma. This year, she is also staying home.
“We can’t [visit my grandma] without [a] two week quarantine, which isn’t manageable for us,” Jaffe said.
Celebrating virtually over Zoom
Zoom, which emerged as one of the most popular video-conferencing platforms at the beginning of the pandemic, is also changing its policies to accommodate Thanksgiving gatherings.
On Twitter the company announced, “we will be lifting the 40-minute limit for all meetings globally from midnight ET on Nov. 26 through 6 a.m. ET on Nov. 27 so your family gatherings don’t get cut short.”
Takoma Park Middle School seventh-grader Oliver Wang’s family is organizing a Zoom dinner with his cousins and grandmother, who live in New York City.
“We’re trying our best to recreate what we would’ve done this year,” Wang said. “Zooming [during dinner] is weird at times and not the best, but at least I get to see my grandma.”
On the other hand, Richard Montgomery High School sophomore Katherine Beza is planning to celebrate with solely her parents and her sister, instead of attempting to continue her board game tradition with her cousins virtually.
“It is likely we won’t bother with video calling others and instead just spend time with ourselves,” she said.
Celebrating with outdoor activities
Some students are engaging in outdoor activities, such as hiking and camping. The CDC states that outdoor activities pose less risk than indoor gatherings.
Normally, Winston Churchill High School sophomore Ida Chen spends her Thanksgiving hiking and eating with friends from Pennsylvania. This year, she is looking forward to hiking with her immediate family.
Richard Montgomery High School sophomore Lydia Yeh plans to go camping with her family, after eating Thanksgiving dinner with only her immediate family.
“We decided that we wanted to go camping because it’s more of an isolated activity where we don’t really need to see anyone,” Yeh said. “If we do coincidentally see another camper, it’s outdoors. We just wanted to go somewhere and escape from our house without risking [our health].”
Article by Avery Wang of Richard Montgomery High School
Photo Courtesy of Pexels Photos
Article edited by MoCo News Editor Emily Zhang