Thanksgiving is now two weeks away.
That means that if you want to have any chance of safely gathering with your friends or family, it's time to put yourself into quarantine.
In other words, you should have already committed to two weeks of avoiding crowds, staying away from bars and restaurants, and not visiting with anyone who doesn't live inside your home, so that you can be sure that you don't unknowingly catch and spread COVID-19 across the dinner table on T-day.
"In this case, quarantine refers to staying away from others and minimizing your risk as much as you can," Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health expert at George Washington University, told CNN. "It doesn't mean staying locked in your house."
What that means, Wen told CNN, is that it's probably okay to run some errands or socialize outdoors if distancing and wearing a mask, but that quarantine still needs to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, that may make a safe and cautious Thanksgiving together impossible for families with children going to school, daycare, or living on college campuses.
"Even though the travel itself is low-risk, I worry about people coming from all over the country, since nearly every part is a coronavirus hotspot at this point," Wen told CNN.
Instead of a traditional Thanksgiving, Wen suggests meeting virtually, outdoors with warm blankets, or postponing the holiday altogether.
"I know it's a lot," Wen told CNN. "But we have to get through this winter. There is hope on the horizon, with a vaccine and therapeutics likely next year. We need to get to that point. That means we have to keep up all these precautions. Wear masks. Physical distance. Wash our hands. Avoid indoor gatherings."
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