“CDC urges Americans against traveling for Thanksgiving as coronavirus outbreak worsens“

• The CDC’s Thursday briefing is the agency’s first since August.
• The U.S. coronavirus outbreak has grown substantially worse since then, with
• The CDC now projects that “newly reported COVID-19 deaths will likely increase over the next four weeks, with 7,300 to 16,000 new deaths likely to be reported in the week ending December 12, 2020.”

[Ed. note: The CDC is recommending to remain with your household for the holiday. A “household” in this context is one with persons in the same home for 14 days prior to the Thanksgiving holiday.]

“Dr. Henry Walke, CDC’s Covid-19 incident manager, said “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 busses and planes.

“‘We’re alarmed,’ he said, adding that the country has seen an ‘exponential increase’ in cases, hospitalizations and deaths recently.

“‘One of our concerns is that as people over the holiday season get together, they may actually be bringing infections with them to that small gathering and not even know it,’ he said, adding that 30% to 40% of spread is driven by people without symptoms.

“‘From an individual household level, what’s at stake is basically increased chance of one of your loved ones becoming sick and then hospitalized and dying,’ Walke said. ‘We certainly don’t want to see that happen. These times are tough. It’s been a long outbreak,'” by Will Feuer, CNBC. Read more

Don’t bring COVID-19 to dinner: Washington health officials warn against holiday gatherings