Now that we are through Thanksgiving........

[SaintsManiac]

Yes & you don't need to have physical affection. If work is so safe then everyone should be back at work. There is no legitimate link to COVID through food.

Not the food directly, but shared utensils, drink preparation, etc. Is everyone washing hands between serving themselves? Is someone going to police everyone in the home to not touch or shout or sing or remove their masks?

I just don’t think it’s a fair comparison at all.

 

[GreatLakes]

I'm a bit confused then.....is your son opening the actual gifts or not??? How old is your son? I'm talking about gifts from far away that will not be opened because the recipient is not there because of all this and that recipient is a 3 and a half yr old boy.

My son is 3, almost 4. These are gifts from far away (Florida, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, other side of the state) but they are being mailed to us or ordered from places and shipped directly to us. Just this week we started to get gifts from friends and family out of state that will be under our tree.

I guess I'm confused. Are you guys not all sending the gifts to where the 3 yr old is so he can open them while on Zoom with you on the other side of the meeting?

The next mutation.....

I am working with covid positive employees for the hospital network I work for. Last week, I had 2 employees test positive for their second time around. Both of them had it back in April. Now, they have it again. I pulled infectious disease in to consult. they are testing the DNA of their current virus and comparing to known DNA from last spring.

No doubt, it's mutating. It's very discouraging.

It will definitely happen. The question will be is the new strain close enough to the old for the vaccine to still be effective or will the mutation be more in line with other Coronavirus strains?

But that bring me back to a discussion that I feel we are not having nearly enough and that is our population's overall health. The real way to live with this new virus is to have much better long term health. Healthy people with no other comorbidity do very well against COVID-19. It is still more deadly than standard Coronavirus strains but if we didn't have an obesity epidemic, a generally metabolically unhealthy population, and nutrient defficient diets we would have fared much better against this pandemic and that is really what we need to do to ultimately push past COVID-19 in my humble opinion.

 

[spiders]

Not the food directly, but shared utensils, drink preparation, etc. Is everyone washing hands between serving themselves? Is someone going to police everyone in the home to not touch or shout or sing or remove their masks?

I just don’t think it’s a fair comparison at all.

You still eat at work, still share microwaves, refrigerators and every other surface.

 

[SaintsManiac]

You still eat at work, still share microwaves, refrigerators and every other surface.

We don’t know what office protocols are like in every company.

 

[GreatLakes]

You still eat at work, still share microwaves, refrigerators and every other surface.

If you work in an essential industry that can't be done remotely you need to work. It is a risk that is necessary. Those same people then going to holiday gatherings that are not necessary is a bad idea. If you have to work and have to go grocery shopping you just have to accept the added risk. That doesn't mean you then continue going to all the unnecessary things and add to the risk. I've had to go into the office a few times, though I only go at night when I'm the only one there, that doesn't mean I should just go to my mom's for Thanksgiving or Christmas too.

We also made a lot of changes at work. We removed microwaves, no two people are allowed to eat at the same time in the same lunch room, and all food in the refrigerator must by in closed containers.

Yes & you don't need to have physical affection. If work is so safe then everyone should be back at work. There is no legitimate link to COVID through food.

No one said work is safe and frankly many non-essential businesses should have stayed closed since March.

 

[spiders]

We don’t know what office protocols are like in every company.

Exactly. You don’t.

 

[spiders]

If you work in an essential industry that can't be done remotely you need to work. It is a risk that is necessary. Those same people then going to holiday gatherings that are not necessary is a bad idea. If you have to work and have to go grocery shopping you just have to accept the added risk. That doesn't mean you then continue going to all the unnecessary things and add to the risk. I've had to go into the office a few times, though I only go at night when I'm the only one there, that doesn't mean I should just go to my mom's for Thanksgiving or Christmas too.

We also made a lot of changes at work. We removed microwaves, no two people are allowed to eat at the same time in the same lunch room, and all food in the refrigerator must by in closed containers.

Yes, the term acceptable risk is back. Risk is acceptable because some people need to work so others can live the dream, high on their pedestal from the comfort of their home telling people how many lives they are saving.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Exactly. You don’t.

But I do know that I don’t expect someone to do temp checks and Covid screenings on grandma’s front porch for family gatherings.

 

[dclpluto]

Yes people will travel for Christmas. Covid will never get under control until a vaccine is widely available. It’s a shame people don’t care. Have fun but do it safely.

 

[GreatLakes]

Yes, the term acceptable risk is back. Risk is acceptable because some people need to work so others can live the dream, high on their pedestal from the comfort of their home telling people how many lives they are saving.

This post doesn't make any sense. Some businesses are essential for society to run. Utilities, hospitals, grocery stores, some financial institutions. It is just reality. That doesn't make them "safe", it just means we couldn't run without them. That doesn't mean anyone is living a dream high on a pedestal in a pandemic, it is just reality.

On the other hand other things are not necessary. You can go a year or longer without a haircut, or going to a movie, or eating inside a restaurant, or seeing extended family, or getting a tattoo, or going to a bar. You don't ignore the unessessary added risks of the non-essential things because of the essential things. If that means you just go to work, the grocery store, the bank, and nowhere else that is what it means. It is what I'm doing and many other people that aren't just thinking about themselves.

 

[dclpluto]

This post doesn't make any sense. Some businesses are essential for society to run. Utilities, hospitals, grocery stores, some financial institutions. It is just reality. That doesn't make them "safe", it just means we couldn't run without them. That doesn't mean anyone is living a dream high on a pedestal in a pandemic, it is just reality.

On the other hand other things are not necessary. You can go a year or longer without a haircut, or going to a movie, or eating inside a restaurant, or seeing extended family, or getting a tattoo, or going to a bar. You don't ignore the unessessary added risks of the non-essential things because of the essential things. If that means you just go to work, the grocery store, the bank, and nowhere else that is what it means. It is what I'm doing and many other people that aren't just thinking about themselves.

I’m guessing you don’t cut hair or work in a movie theatre or work at a restaurant.

 

[dclpluto]

Its going to be the same.

Those that gathered for Thanksgiving are going to again for Christmas.

Those that didn't won't.

I dont see anyone changing their minds at this point anymore.

theres going to be a lot of people that traveled for thanksgiving that won’t travel for Christmas. Than there will be a lot of people that didn’t travel for thanksgiving that will travel for Christmas. Happens every year. It won’t be any different this year.

 

[TLSnell1981]

We will continue to visit and celebrate holidays with our family while using reasonable precautions.

 

[spiders]

This post doesn't make any sense. Some businesses are essential for society to run. Utilities, hospitals, grocery stores, some financial institutions. It is just reality. That doesn't make them "safe", it just means we couldn't run without them. That doesn't mean anyone is living a dream high on a pedestal in a pandemic, it is just reality.

On the other hand other things are not necessary. You can go a year or longer without a haircut, or going to a movie, or eating inside a restaurant, or seeing extended family, or getting a tattoo, or going to a bar. You don't ignore the unessessary added risks of the non-essential things because of the essential things. If that means you just go to work, the grocery store, the bank, and nowhere else that is what it means. It is what I'm doing and many other people that aren't just thinking about themselves.

Every job is essential to the person who relies on it to support their family.

I agree that just because something is essential doesn’t make it safe. It just means that their lives and the lives of their families are expendable.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Tentative plans to spend Christmas Day at my older sister’s home made in October. Matters are looking shaky on this end now and it might be canceled.

 

[disneychrista]

I'm a bit confused then.....is your son opening the actual gifts or not??? How old is your son? I'm talking about gifts from far away that will not be opened because the recipient is not there because of all this and that recipient is a 3 and a half yr old boy.

Can you not send him your gifts?

 

[Jennasis]

Bottom line, you HAVE to work. So you go to work. You take that risk to make money and survive. You take precautions as best you can (I hope). You mask up, and stay 6' from fellow employees and customers. You wash your hands all day long like a surgeon about the scrub in (at least I do).

You DO NOT have to have a Thanksgiving/Christmas party.

Work is essential. Holidays are not.

 

[TLSnell1981]

This post doesn't make any sense. Some businesses are essential for society to run. Utilities, hospitals, grocery stores, some financial institutions. It is just reality. That doesn't make them "safe", it just means we couldn't run without them. That doesn't mean anyone is living a dream high on a pedestal in a pandemic, it is just reality.

On the other hand other things are not necessary. You can go a year or longer without a haircut, or going to a movie, or eating inside a restaurant, or seeing extended family, or getting a tattoo, or going to a bar. You don't ignore the unessessary added risks of the non-essential things because of the essential things. If that means you just go to work, the grocery store, the bank, and nowhere else that is what it means. It is what I'm doing and many other people that aren't just thinking about themselves.

The other things that are not "important" matter to the people who work there or own the business. They are quite essential to them.

 

[Tiggerette]

It will definitely happen. The question will be is the new strain close enough to the old for the vaccine to still be effective or will the mutation be more in line with other Coronavirus strains?

You might find the cases in Denmark and the dramatic culling of farmed mink to be interesting. It speaks directly to your concern. As far as I can tell, this is a reality- although not said much on national news outlets. I'm not mentioning it to be a fear-monger, it's really just biology. Organisms will evolve over time, viruses will mutate. The mutation in Denmark is one I'll keep an eye on, while still adhering to public health precautions, etc. etc.

On other thread topics:
There's no doubt there's a significant economic predicament caused by the way this virus transmits. Whether pre-symptomatic or completely asymptomatic, the virulence is problematic. I expect post-Thanksgiving figures to scale up the percentages we've already seen. A certain amount will be asymptomatic, a certain amount hospitalized, and very sadly a certain amount will die. (Ugh, I think I need a soothing cuppa tea.)

 

[KBoopaloo]

We’ve started organizing a drop off Christmas cookie swap in our extended family so we can all be enjoying the same desserts while we do our usual Yankee Swap gift exchange on Zoom on Christmas night - we’ll all have dinner with just our households/bubbles just like Thanksgiving. We had planned to cancel the swap completely but I think I have devised an overly complicated way to make it work virtually - it’s sure to be a bit of a cluster but it usually is even when we do it in person. We decided back in October that both Thanksgiving and Christmas were not happening as usual for us and have been working on ideas to keep some traditions alive since.

I think Christmas will be more difficult to spend apart than Thanksgiving was but we’re doing what we can to make the best of it as it is and look forward to a hopefully better year next year.

I agree with other posters in the thread who are nervous about the impact of holiday gatherings on the overall spread. I think it is going to be bad.