Still Planning Your Big Thanksgiving Dinner? Please Rethink
Covid-19 is a runaway locomotive
Thanksgiving is a BIG wonderful time of year. All the family gathers around a big table. It’s loaded with roast turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, sweet potatoes or mashed, a green bean casserole, brussel sprouts, loaves of fresh baked bread, pumpkin and apple pies (try both.) Typically, a mom and dad host this culinary hubbub. Crowded in elbow-to-elbow are kids, grandparents, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, boyfriends, and girlfriends. Under the table, a dog or maybe the neighbor’s cat. Good food, good feelings, good spirits.
Sorry folks, time to get real. Call off your big Thanksgiving dinner — do it today.
The latest Covid-19 projection model from the University of Washington predicts that Covid deaths in the United States will reach the tragic—and astounding—total of 438,941 deaths by March 1, 2021. Asked for an on-air comment, Dr. Anthony Fauci agreed with the projected number.
The number is accelerating. America now owns a (terrible) world record with a total of eleven million Covid-19 cases. And this disease is not “turning the corner.” Our national case total jumped by one million last week. Think about that. One million new cases. In seven days.
At that case rate, we could reach a half million dead by April. Hospitals around the country are bracing for an onslaught of new cases just as many are running out of available ICU beds. At many hospitals the emergency room will become a deadly end-of-the-line for some patients. Unthinkable triage will take place in ER waiting rooms. Exhausted healthcare workers will be forced to make heart-rending decisions. Who can stay for treatment and who must go? Sick, older people in the ER, those with underlying health issues, may hear: “We’re so sorry but we’re not able to care for you here—please return to your home and self-isolate.” (Unsaid: Be sure to update your will.)
Remember: Covid is a highly infectious disease with tiny aerosol particles that can float in the air for hours. And Covid LOVES a big group of people crowded around a table without masks. Add alcohol—making folks raise their voices and shout—and Covid is over the moon.
How our Thanksgiving plans changed—twice
For my wife and me, a typical Thanksgiving — in a non-Covid year — is a day trip. In the morning, we load the car with bundles of fresh-made New York City goodies. The manifest will show bagels, lox, cheeses, and other exquisite deli treats. We drive west for a couple of hours to join a gathering at the home of one of Dru’s three sisters. These women, and one brother-in-law (a former restaurant owner), are all accomplished chefs. The other husbands tend to well-stocked bars. It’s always a festival of food and drink. With a headcount of about thirty these occasions are delicious, boisterous fun.
But it’s not happening this year — cancelled due to Covid. In place of the big event, Dru and I planned to join a low-key Thanksgiving celebration in Brooklyn. There would be six of us. We would wear masks and try to keep our distance.
Then we saw the latest Covid projection model—suggesting a coming death count of half million. We consulted with our little group—and cancelled our modest Thanksgiving gathering.
“It’s just not worth taking the chance,” we all agreed.
And so Dru and I will be alone on Thanksgiving. We shall dine at home. No masks. No distancing. (No health safety issues here—we’ve been securely secluded in our “space capsule” for eight months.)
Upon deciding to cancel our “little Thanksgiving in Brooklyn” we both felt a sense of relief. And we’ve decided to pardon the turkey this year. We’ll feast on Peking Duck delivered from a neighborhood Chinese restaurant.
A “late cancel” will take courage—people will be pissed
Is your family still planning to host a BIG Thanksgiving get-together? (Let’s call that ten or more people.) If so, please consider cancelling. Yes, it will screw up some travel plans and leave a lot of family members feeling like you abandoned them. Younger folks may say: What’s the big deal? (Young people are famous for disregarding risk — they don’t understand that taking risks is, well, risky.) If there are Covid-deniers in your extended family, they’ll blow a fuse: What!? Cancelled!? This whole damn Covid thing’s a hoax! But let the latest CDC statistics back you up in your decision. After all, by late 2021 this virus should be (fingers crossed) behind us. And you’ll want your entire family to come together next Thanksgiving, right? It would be tragic if you had to set out an empty chair. Or two.
May we please bury these 3 stupid, dangerous myths?
The presidential campaign was divisive and wrenching. Sadly, it featured some deadly lies. These three lies are killers — please help to kill them off.
- “We have turned the corner.” No — we haven’t. We’re riding a runaway Covid locomotive.
- “Covid is a Democratic hoax — just wait til November 4th — it will disappear.” No — it didn’t disappear — we’re riding that fucking train. And it is not a hoax train. It is killing us in ghastly numbers.
- “Masks don’t work.” Sorry, but masks do work. The latest research shows that — not only do masks protect others around you — they also afford some protection for the wearer.
Please consider cancelling your plans. Yes, time is very short. But think about Covid safety — take a deep breath — and pull the plug.