Can We Party Together?
Holidays during the COVID Pandemic
After more than 6 months isolating and practicing social distance, more than 5 million Americans travelled to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. Against all warnings, planes, trains and automobiles were packed and ready to go. Specialists predict a spike in COVID cases will happen, in early December, due to the beloved Holiday. Taking all that in consideration, Is there even a safe way to celebrate Christmas?
Its hard to be completely sure but here’s some questions to consider before start planning your get together:
Is a relative still contagious after recovering from COVID?
Recovering COVID patients are contagious up to 2 weeks after exhibiting symptoms. Any person that has been infected and recovered still should see a doctor before attending any social gathering. Once cleared, the former patient, usually poses a minimal risk to others.
I had tested positive for COVID months ago. Am I immune to Corona?
Not completely. Right now, the numbers are very conflicting on the subject. Separate studies point to a immunization window in between 2 to 4 months only. With both studies, showing a sharp decline in antibodies after this period. Research on COVID is still in it’s early stages and much has yet to be discovered.
Is herd immunity real?
For most diseases, herd immunity is reached by infection or vaccine. When about 60-70 percent of the population achieve immunity to a certain infection, the disease is not considered a threat anymore. But so far, the numbers for infection immunity are not very optimistic. High density areas like New York City, for example, are in the 20 percent range. And most areas of the US the numbers fall to 3 to 10 percent. With three large companies announcing promising results with their vaccines, in the last couple of weeks, we finally start to see some hope on that front.
How can we see each other during Christmas?
This is a hard one. We are all missing our loved ones by now and more time separated doesn’t really help. If you decide to take the risk, there is always a copule of measures that can placed. They don’t guarantee full safety but they can always help.
Getting tested before can help but there’s always a window in between getting tested and getting the results. So a negative test can be very reassuring but it’s not the only thing we should do before meeting.
Some specialists are recommending getting a flu shot also. It will not just be helpful in the next couple of months but it also can avoid confusion with COVID symptoms and an unnecessary visit to the doctor.
Any form of mass transit should also be avoided during this period. Masks and hand sanitizer should be visible and available during the party. Don’t force contact with relatives that are trying to keep their distance or don’t want to attend.