'The virus is attending these events': Experts fear COVID spike from holiday gatherings. Here's what you need to know.

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With the holidays approaching, millions of Americans will be faced with the decision of whether to eschew the traditional gatherings with family and friends or risk spreading COVID-19 among loved ones.

Last week, health officials in the Washington, D.C., area said“All along there have been issues about attending weddings, funerals, religious gatherings and other events that are part of our normal life,’’ said Dr. Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University. “They bring people together and potentially become vectors for the virus.

“I know there will be plenty of families who mock this kind of advice and say, ‘That’s ridiculous. We’re going to get together and enjoy Thanksgiving like it’s supposed to be and no one’s going to tell us otherwise,’’’ Woolf said. “That may give them a sense of independence, but then the virus gets to grandma and she ends up in the hospital on a ventilator, and then you live with the guilt.’’

For someone like Cioe-Peña who works in public health and sees the impact of COVID-19 on a regular basis, the decision to find alternate ways to celebrate the holidays, while painful, was pretty clear-cut.

 

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