Doctors urge caution on Thanksgiving gatherings: Here are some safety tips - Tampa Bay Times

A traditional Thanksgiving gathering of a multigenerational dinner, with people passing around the communal dishes of sweet potatoes and turkey and stuffing, is not too appetizing to doctors fighting against COVID-19.

The buffet, with everyone grabbing the same spoon to ladle out a pool of gravy onto their plate, is the worst, said Dr. Allison Messina, the head of the Division of Infectious Disease at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.

“It’s almost like multiple handshakes right before you eat,” Messina said.

Related: BayCare offers rapid coronavirus tests at urgent care clinics

We’ve had a distant Easter with drive-through egg hunts, and we set out Halloween treats on a table in the driveway for trick-or-treaters to grab and go. Now we face what are traditionally more intimate holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and public health experts have advice on how to reconnect at a distance.

With coronavirus cases rising, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still says staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others. But if you can’t bear the idea of canceling Thanksgiving, there are some guidelines for reducing the risk, especially for family members who may be vulnerable.

Instead of a serve-yourself buffet, doctors recommend that one person assemble the plates at a Thanksgiving gathering to avoid sharing serving spoons among the guests. [ Times (2012) ]

But first, a warning.

“For Thanksgiving, families should know that the rates are rising again in our community and that 40 percent of people with the disease are asymptomatic and may not know that they have it — but can still give it to others,” said Dr. Jay Wolfson, professor of public health at the University of South Florida. “We still don’t have a vaccine, we don’t have a standard treatment, and we don’t know about herd immunity. Don’t take a chance of spreading it to others or catching it from others.”

Fortunately, the Tampa Bay area has terrific outdoor weather in November, unlike the snowy Northern states, so an outdoor setting can be ideal. But doctors warn that guests should be reasonably distanced and they should wear a mask when not eating. The CDC says the best plan is to have a small dinner at home with only people who live in your household, and maybe drop off traditional family dishes to those who are at a higher risk of illness. Then hold a Zoom meeting with extended family and friends to reconnect.

Messina suggested that instead of a big meal, families plan an outing like visiting a pumpkin patch or a corn maze or a local park so the little kids can run around and people can visit. But then afterward, go home for a small dinner with members of the immediate household.

Instead of a big meal, public health doctors recommend families plan an outing like visiting a pumpkin patch or a hay maze or local park so the little kids can run around and people can visit. Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota has set up a hay maze next to the playground. [ Nathan Benderson Park ]

“For the little kids, they would probably much prefer running around an orchard or a pumpkin patch than sitting at the dinner table with their uncle,” Messina said.

Having an outdoor dinner party with family and friends can work if you follow the CDC’s recommendations on hosting gatherings or cookouts, which include tables spread far apart, masks, hand washing and a limit on the number of people handling or serving food.

“I’m going to hire a guy with a T-shirt cannon to fire mashed potatoes,” comedian Adam Carolla recently cracked on a late-night talk show.

While that may be extreme, Messina suggests that instead of a buffet, one person be assigned to assemble each person’s plate to limit the number of people handling the serving spoon. Then the server should wash their hands and join the meal, at a distance.

The highest-risk activities that weekend, doctors say, include going shopping in crowded stores for Black Friday and being a spectator at a crowded sporting event or parade. If you travel, Wolfson said, remember that while planes appear to be safe in flight, coming and going to and from the airports can be risky if you don’t socially distance and wear a mask.

With the onset of the holidays, Messina worries that between coronavirus fatigue and a few glasses of wine people will let their guard down. And Wolfson cautioned that “it’s not worth the risk to expose vulnerable family and friends” to the still unknowns of COVID-19.

“Following every event and holiday where people get together,” Wolfson said, “we experience an uptick in cases several weeks later, along with hospitalizations and deaths.”

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Doctors urge caution on Thanksgiving gatherings: Here are some safety tips - Tampa Bay Times
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