As the holiday season continues to give us bad news while simply trying to survive, Americans are putting themselves at more and more risk to be infected with the Coronavirus.
With Christmas in the rearview mirror, public health experts are bracing for yet another surge in Covid-19 cases similar to those seen after other US holidays in recent months.
“We’ve just seen these amplification events, and that’s what’s happened at the end of this year in the US,” said Erin Bromage, an associate professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
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“We had Thanksgiving, we had Labor Day, we had Halloween, and each one of these events brought lots of people together and just gave the virus more fuel to move through the population,” Bromage said. “Christmas is going to do a similar thing.”
Nearly 1.2 million people were screened at airports on Wednesday alone, an air travel record for the pandemic. With 616,469 travelers screened on Christmas Day, which is just 23% of the total screened on the same day a year ago, officials remain worried because it doesn’t signal the end of the holiday travel rush, but a lull before travelers begins to return home.
Dr. Carlos del Rio, who is the executive associate dean of Emory University’s School of Medicine, said if people get together they should definitely keep gatherings below 10 people and get tested at least once, maybe twice.
“Your level of protection is as strong as your weakest link, and if there’s a weak link, then the virus is going to spread,” he stated. Adding, “We’ve learned how quickly this virus and how easily this virus spreads, so we have to take all the precautions possible.”
We are hoping everyone stays safe and avoids travel unless truly needed. We have to support each other right now. Otherwise, the future simply looks grimmer.