Is it safe to gather with loved ones for Thanksgiving? Local health experts say no.
Dr. Syed Hussain, chief clinical officer of Trinity Health of New England, said the U.S. is in rough shape heading into the holidays with more than 100,000 infections per day.
“We will see a tsunami of COVID-19 cases if folks don’t stick to public health measures,” Hussain said.
He recommends staying home to celebrate Thanksgiving.
“Try to avoid the temptation of inviting people who don’t live with you,” Hussain said.
Lines at local testing facilities are getting longer as the demand for testing increases. If you’re lining up with the hope that a negative result will be your ticket to Thanksgiving, hold up.
Keith Grant, a senior system director of infection prevention for the Hartford HealthCare network, said testing is valuable, particularly when coupled with other mitigation strategies.
“What I would do is, I would quarantine for a period of 14 days, then get tested,” Grant said. “So, if you do that process and you’re comfortable with the process that you set up in your quarantining processes, then you can say this test is actually meaningful.”
Negative tests don’t exactly mean you’re in the clear.
“If there has been any kind of exposure, known exposure to someone who had tested positive for COVID-19 per CDC guidance, even if they have a negative test, they need to quarantine,” Hussain said.
That’s because it may take time for a viral test to pop positive after an exposure. Grant said that on average, symptoms show up at least four days out. You may have a better idea more than 10 days out -- hence, the 14-day quarantine.
“About 97 to 98 percent of tests of symptoms, for the actual incubation period -- about 97 percent shows up in the first 11 days,” Grant said. “So, 14 days should capture the 100 percent.”
If you haven’t started, it’s too late to begin a safe quarantine in time for Thanksgiving.
There is hope. Hussain points out news of two promising vaccine candidates.
And, there’s always next Thanksgiving.
