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Despite warnings from health authorities, millions of Americans have traveled across the country these days to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, amid concerns that COVID-19 cases may increase further.
US chief epidemiologist Anthony Fauci on Thursday launched a “last call” on Americans to make sacrifices on this family vacation to avoid deaths within weeks.
“A sacrifice now can save lives and make the future much brighter to overcome this (the pandemic),” the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said in an interview with ABC News.
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Fauci recalled that vaccines are “on the horizon” and that it is enough to have a little more patience, to avoid crowds, especially in closed spaces, to be able to see the release of a pandemic that has lasted for ten months.
Most states in the nation are on red alert, with infections increasing by 2 million in the past two weeks to 12.6 million, out of control. Fauci wanted to set an example by announcing that this year he will not see his adult daughters on Thanksgiving and that he will celebrate it only with his wife.
But nine months after the pandemic, the slogan is too radical for many who are preparing to meet relatives, limiting guests.
Crowded airports
But few have heard Fauci’s calls: Airports as full as ever since the pandemic began, endless lines to take a test were the scene this Thursday, just as authorities insist we must celebrate Thanksgiving at home.
Since the beginning of the week, the images in crowded airports have caused concern for health experts.
Without actually banning travel, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first urged Americans not to travel for this amazing family vacation, more important than Christmas for many, where family usually gets together at the traditional turkey.
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At a time when the United States is the country with the highest number of coronavirus deaths in the world – more than 256,000 deaths and 150,000 new cases have been registered every day for several days – most state governors like the New Jersey urges its residents not to “turn their home dining room into a COVID source.”
“Our calls for help have fallen on selfish ears,” lamented Cleavon Gilman, an Arizona emergency physician, on Twitter, who noted the state’s ICU services are already “flooded” with covid-19 patients. .
In New York, as in many American cities, the lines to take a test are very long. Health authorities point out, however, that a negative test a few days before the holiday does not eliminate the risks of transmission.
Fear of the explosion of cases in December
But even with the celebrations at a minimum – which has depressed turkey orders this year, according to farmers – authorities fear an explosion of cases in December.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the holidays have systematically triggered an increase in infections – this was the case after the national 4th of July celebration, in early September after Labor Day, or recently after Halloween, according to health officials.
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With Thanksgiving, the first vacation of the winter period, the risk is all the greater as thousands of students return home and stay there many times until January.
“It’s not too late to change plans,” Meghan McGinty, a disaster prevention expert at Johns Hopkins University, pleaded on Monday. “Thanksgiving will truly be a key moment (…) If we don’t limit the celebrations to our homes, cases and hospitalizations will certainly increase.”
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