Latest from CDC: Stay Home and Don’t Travel for Thanksgiving

The CDC is making more recommendations around the Thanksgiving holiday as COVID-19 cases surge across the United States, and in Central New York. The latest: don't travel for the holiday to prevent the spread of the virus.

The CDC's latest set of recommendations came Thursday, just a week before Thanksgiving, as the United States experiences over 1 million new cases of COVID over the past week.

“CDC is recommending against travel during the Thanksgiving period,” Dr. Henry Walke, CDC’s Covid-19 incident manager, said. “For Americans who decide to travel, CDC recommends doing so as safely as possible by following the same recommendations for everyday living.”

Walke added that the CDC is concerned “about the transportation hubs.” He said he’s worried people won’t be able to maintain social distancing while waiting in line, for example, to board buses and planes, reports CNBC.

Walke says about 30 - 40% of COVID cases are driven by people with no symptoms.

The CDC says holiday celebrations should only include members of the immediate household that have been living in the home for the past 14 days, which would exclude college students, and military members who are coming home for the holidays.

If you still plan to travel for the holiday, the CDC has the following recommendations:

• Limit the number of attendees.
• Host the gathering outdoors, if possible.
• Increase ventilation by opening windows and doors, or by placing central air and heating on continuous circulation. More information on increasing ventilation in your home can be found here.
• Make sure people are sitting 6 feet away, even outdoors.
• Wear a mask at all times, except when eating and drinking.
• Avoid potluck-style gatherings.
• Have one person who is wearing a mask serve all the food so that multiple people are not handling the serving utensils.
• Have single-use options or identify one person to serve sharable items.

These latest recommendations comes on the heels of recent recommendations from the CDC, advising against hugging, handshakes, and loud talking.