Thanksgiving might be the most delightful holiday of the year, with millions of Americans traveling far and wide to celebrate with their friends and family and enjoy meals together. However, this year, Thanksgiving will undoubtedly look different for everyone celebrating as cases for the coronavirus continue to rise. Whether people are traveling or not, new precautions will have to be put in place in order to observe this holiday safely and to keep elderly or high-risk family members safe.
According to the CDC, there are a variety of activities families can take part in. These activities are divided into three sections: Low-risk, Moderate-risk, and High-risk activities. The CDC recommends activities such as dinner with people who live within one’s household, preparing recipes for others, delivering meals contactless, and virtual dinners, if families would like to take the highest precautions.
If families are willing to take some moderate risks, outside Thanksgiving dinners and visiting pumpkin patches would be satisfactory. The CDC says that activities that they recommend staying away from are high-risk activities such as attending large indoor gatherings, attending parades, and other places that have minimal social distancing and a lot of people. In 2020, 56% of families are intending to leave home to celebrate Thanksgiving, with 11% of them boarding an airplane to reach their destination. 22% of these families are staying in a hotel or rental in order to keep socially distanced from relatives and friends. 24% of people are doing day trips, where they leave their home for a day to celebrate somewhere else and return to their home the next day. (2)
Whether families decide to visit family and friends outside of their own backyard or keep the celebration within their own immediate family, Thanksgiving will definitely show itself differently than every other year past.

Sources:

CDC

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