Thanksgiving plans pivot after a surge in virus cases
Just two weeks ago, Dena Nihart finalized plans to meet dozens of relatives for Thanksgiving dinner beneath a tent in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. They agreed to quarantine for 14 days before the holiday and rent 10 tables so they could separate by household during the big meal.
But then, last Monday, Nihart’s body began to ache. By Wednesday, she could barely hold up her head. And by Friday, as Nihart waited for her coronavirus test results with cases surging around her, her family had canceled Thanksgiving altogether.
“It just sucks,” Nihart said from her bedroom, where she had just placed an online order for a turkey breast. The 45-year- old, who works for a construction company, will spend the holiday alone in her apartment in Arlington, Va.
Families across the region were
willing to do almost anything to see one another for Thanksgiving this year. After a long and lonely summer, the number of coronavirus cases seemed to be just low enough by fall that it appeared as though they could find a way to safely gather for the holiday. The recent spike in community spread, however, has thrown a wrench into even the best laid plans. Newly sickened, exposed or fearing the rampant spread of the virus, people in D.C. and beyond say they are canceling their Thanksgiving plans and preparing for Turkey Day at home.
One area epidemiologist called off a trip to New Jersey a few weeks ago, and is now searching for a park at a halfway point to meet her family for a distanced tailgate. Another couple canceled their dinner reservations in an outdoor tent in favor of a carryout meal. Two roommates, 24 and 25, decided to have a wine night instead of traveling home to Texas. And a deacon whose pastor exposed him to the coronavirus last weekend is preparing for a quiet night alone.
The last-minute pivots are in line with new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which on Thursday recommended against traveling or gathering for the holiday. Agency officials stressed that 1 million new cases were reported in the country in the week before Thanksgiving and warned that small gatherings of friends and relatives could accelerate the outbreak. Leaders in the Washington region echoed the guidance multiple times leading up to the holiday, pleading with their constituents to opt for virtual celebrations.
Still, many area residents are hoping to get together with loved ones be it outdoors or in small numbers. Thousands of people preparing to see relatives and friends lined up at coronavirus testing sites across the District over the past week. The number of people tested daily has risen from fewer than 2,000 during the summer to as many as 4,200, said Christopher Geldart, the city’s director of public works.
On Thursday, Cat Lanigan stood with her laptop in hand about halfway through a line that wrapped around five blocks from a coronavirus testing site in Northeast Washington.
Two weeks ago, Lanigan, 23, and her three roommates decided to condense their pod and stop eating at restaurants to prepare to go home for the holidays. They all were getting tested before traveling home to see older parents and family members.