Reinventing Your Holiday Plans During the Coronavirus Pandemic
The holidays are always an incredible time for family and friends to come together and celebrate good times. Delicious warm meals, blankets of snow, and beautiful fall leaves—what’s not to love? Unfortunately, these amazing feel-good times will be a lot different now, months after the world has been hit with the unexpected Coronavirus pandemic.
Particularly in the United States, the pandemic has drastically changed the country’s climate. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has been tirelessly working to help the country run as smoothly as possible by mandating and implementing rules to help reduce the spread of the virus. Some well-known recommendations from the CDC include wearing facial-masks, social distancing, washing your hands, and more! As well as being a great source for coronavirus updates and recommendations, the CDC website also has recommendations for the upcoming fall and winter holidays while the country is dealing with the coronavirus.
Although many people want to cancel the holidays altogether due to the coronavirus, the CDC actually supports people celebrating in moderation. Although you may want to travel to some friends or family for a typically large holiday like Thanksgiving, they highly recommend that you refrain from doing so. If you need to gather with family, try to be outdoors as much as possible for increased ventilation. However, if the weather isn’t fit for an outdoor gathering, try to open the windows, or as always, social distance and wear a mask!
These are fairly well-known precautions, so what are the benefits of them particularly regarding the holidays? After spending all these months in quarantine and mask-wearing, you’d think people would be experts at practicing the proper COVID-19 precautions, but that is not the case! According to Mike Stucka, national data solutions editor of USA Today, Coronavirus cases rose roughly 57.6 % during October and worsened after Halloween in the US. It is so important for people to be cautious about the coronavirus, especially during the holidays, so we can protect ourselves and others. Many people have a, “Well it hasn’t happened to me yet” or “I don’t know anyone who has it” mindset, which is incredibly harmful. Hundreds of thousands of American people, who thought the same thing, have died from this harrowing virus. The ultimate way to prevent more cases and potential deaths from occurring is to practice the proper precautions! Some brilliant hacks you can do during the holidays, whilst practicing these precautions, are handing out pre-served food instead of self-serving, making pods or groups for certain holiday activities, assigning certain dishes or cups to each guest, and finally, obviously getting tested for COVID-19 and social-distancing until you get your results!
Despite a lot of these restrictions, you can still have a wonderful holiday time. Sometimes when I think about the holidays during COVID-19, I feel a bit uneasy, which is normal. I won’t get to visit my family in the islands, go in-person Christmas shopping, or go to Macy’s Dickens Village, all due to the pandemic. However, I am not going to let this unfortunate situation ruin my fun. Some fun indoor replacements for outside activities are a winter baking competition and a Christmas egg hunt! Remember, this holiday season will be absolutely different than any other year we’ve experienced before, but it doesn’t mean we should be disappointed. No matter how much you want to sun-bathe in the sun state or ski the slopes in Aspen, try to have a joyous and innovative holiday experience at home!
Bacon, John, and Joel Shannon. “Coronavirus Updates: October Cases 57% Higher than September Total; Wear a Mask at Home If a Family Member Is Ill.” USA TODAY, USA TODAY, Nov. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/11/01/covid-news-nyc-party-halloween-busted-lockdown-england/6110670002/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020.
CDC. “COVID-19: Holiday Celebrations.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 Feb. 2020, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020.
Lindsay Smith Rogers, and JH Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Innovative Holiday and Winter Gatherings in the Time of COVID-19.” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 15 Oct. 2020, www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/innovative-holiday-and-winter-gatherings-in-the-time-of-covid-19.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020.
