BDI-International Magazine - Issue-6 | November\December 2020

A Thanksgiving
Like No Other:
Will We Have To Rethink Our Traditions?
Jacqueline Samaroo | Entertainment, Money & Culture
No one can deny that
Thanksgiving is one
of the oldest and
most enduring traditions
that we have in the United
States of America; however,
how should we approach this
holiday and others in the
near future? There are some
suggestions to consider as
this tumultuous year draws
to a close with an ongoing
pandemic that shows no
signs of winding down yet.
Smaller Could Be Better
One of the main things we can do to limit
our risk of getting and spreading the virus
is to simply have a small dinner with only
the people that live in our household. As
one would expect, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) has
classified this as a lower-risk activity.
Following the CDC’s guidelines, the
moderate risk version would be if we were
to have a small outdoor dinner with family
and friends who live in your community.
The outdoor aspect of this gathering
greatly lessens the risk compared to if the
dinner was to be held indoors (especially
indoors in a poorly ventilated room). In
this regard, a large indoor gathering with
people from outside our household is a
prime example of a high-risk activity.
Alternatives for
High-Risk Individuals
If we have family members, friends, or
neighbors that are particularly vulnerable
– that is, they are at higher risk of severe
illness from COVID-19 – we will likely
need to find alternative means of
experiencing Thanksgiving with them.
One suggestion is to personally prepare
food for these family members, friends,
or neighbors, and then deliver it to them
in a way that does not involve direct contact.
Changing the Way We
Travel During The Holidays
Every holiday season, countless
Americans travel thousands of miles to
see their loved ones. This holiday season,
fewer people are expected to travel by air.
Both the Thanksgiving and the end of the
year holiday seasons are two of the busiest
times when it comes to domestic flights.
Analysts have said that we can expect to
see a rise in the number of road trips
happening as travelers try their best to
reduce their risk of exposure to the virus.
The entire process of traveling by air can
put us at a high risk of contracting the
virus, from the security lines at the airport
to the close quarters of the airplane itself.
Going Virtual Instead of Physical
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has the
potential to affect even the most
committed holiday travelers. However,
with virtual workdays and virtual learning
experiences becoming commonplace for
so many employees and students, the
prospect of a virtual Thanksgiving doesn’t
seem all that crazy. In fact, the idea of
having a virtual Thanksgiving experience
is also extremely attractive when it comes
to loved ones that are at a higher risk of
severe illness from COVID-19.
What the CDC Has to Say
The CDC has released several official
statements reiterating the same piece of
advice over and over: “Staying home is the
best way to protect yourself and others. If
you must travel, be informed of the risks
involved.” With that in mind, here is what
the CDC officially considers to be low-risk,
moderate-risk, and high-risk
Thanksgiving activities:
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