Thanksgiving Archives

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Who should get a COVID-19 test after Thanksgiving? The answer is complicated, experts say.

Five days have passed since Thanksgiving, and some people who were exposed to the coronavirus at a gathering might be developing symptoms.

While these people should get tested immediately, what about the folks who don’t have symptoms?

Well, it’s complicated.

Who should get tested and when can be controversial, health experts say. That’s why the most important thing to do to avoid a surge in COVID-19 cases, they say, is to stick to the basics: stay home, wear a mask and practice social distancing.

The problem with testing everyone who went to a large gathering is two-fold, said Dr. Adam Jarrett, the chief medical officer at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck. Conducting widespread testing can overwhelm the system, delaying results for people who need them the most. And the level of accuracy varies depending on which test a person gets, he said.

“I’m very concerned about the false sense

Recreation

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December 1, 2020

Did Thanksgiving Spread Covid-19? Here’s Why You Can’t Tell Yet.

That’s what happened after July 4, said Megan L. Ranney, an emergency physician and public health researcher at Brown University. She said a jump in positive tests began between two and four weeks after the holiday, suggesting that many were pass-along infections.

The American Automobile Association forecast that about 50 million people would travel for Thanksgiving. Even if only 1 percent caught the virus, Dr. Ranney said, “that’s an extra 500,000 infections in one day,” and they could infect untold thousands more before showing up in the statistics. “We are looking at an exponential effect,” she said, one that would only truly be seen around Christmas and New Year’s Eve. “It will be a double whammy.”

Lewis S. Nelson, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, said he was not certain that Thanksgiving travel and gatherings would create a widespread surge in new cases.

Travel

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November 30, 2020

16 States Log Record-High Average COVID-19 Cases Since Thanksgiving

The coronavirus crisis continued to reach new heights over the Thanksgiving holiday as average daily caseloads showed no sign of declining across much of the country.

Sixteen states — including Arizona, California, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey and Ohio — saw their average daily case counts hit all-time highs Thursday and Friday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The average, taken over the previous seven days, says more about overall trends than do single-day numbers. Single-day figures can reflect testing backlogs that recently cleared, making it appear as if there were a bigger spike in cases on any given day than actually occurred.

New Jersey, for example, logged a seven-day average of more than 3,500 cases per day in its first coronavirus wave in early April. The state now appears to be reaching a second peak, logging a seven-day average of more than 4,000 cases per day ― an

Travel

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November 29, 2020

U.S. coronavirus infections shoot past 13 million, even as the Thanksgiving holiday blurs state reporting.

For that very reason, the numbers were artificially high on Friday, when many states reported two days’ worth of data. That pushed the country past 200,000 cases in a single day for the first time, with more than 205,000 reported as of late Friday night, along with more than 1,400 deaths. The preceding Friday, Nov. 20, the reports were more than 198,600 infections and more than 1,950 deaths.

The blurry data could persist. Access to testing around the country was likely to have decreased for a few days, meaning more infections could go uncounted. In Louisiana, testing sites run by the National Guard were slated to be closed both Thursday and Friday. In Wisconsin, some National Guard testing sites closed all week.

“I just hope that people don’t misinterpret the numbers and think that there wasn’t a major surge as a result of Thanksgiving, and then end up making Christmas

Travel

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November 28, 2020

Watch Chrissy Teigen’s Heartwarming Thanksgiving Dance With Her Dad – E! Online

Chrissy Teigen is leaning on her entire family for the holidays following her devastating pregnancy loss in September.

On Black Friday, the model and TV host posted on Instagram a video showing her carrying her and husband John Legend‘s 4-year-old daughter Luna Stephens while slow dancing with her father, Ron Teigen Jr, in a living room. The little girl then put her arms around her mom and grandfather as Chrissy kissed her dad on the cheek. The video comes after she opened up on social media about her depression since her pregnancy loss in September.

“So happy we got to see papa,” the star wrote. “Our household has been super tested for weeks, I think I’ve had over 50 swabs. nose has HAD IT but so happy it made it safe for papa. We all have to do them so often because John’s on a production and I

Travel

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November 28, 2020

US surpasses record 200K daily cases; virus numbers could be erratic after Thanksgiving, experts warn

More than 200,000 COVID-19 cases were reported in the U.S. on Friday, an all-time high reached about three weeks after the nation first reported 100,000 daily cases on Nov. 4.

That rapid doubling, as reported by Johns Hopkins University, is reminiscent of the virus’ growth this spring, when exponential spread prompted widespread restrictions across the country in an effort to control the virus.

But experts warn that coronavirus testing numbers are likely to be erratic over the next week or so as fewer people get tested during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and testing sites observe shorter hours.

The result could be potential dips in reported infections that offer the illusion that the spread of the virus is easing when, in fact, the numbers say little about where the nation stands in fighting COVID-19. The number of Americans who have tested positive passed 13 million Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Travel

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November 28, 2020

Empty seats, delivered feasts as virus changes Thanksgiving

title=s — Evelyn Maysonet looks at the food delivery from the Weber-Morgan Health Department Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020, in Ogden, Utah. Maysonet has been isolating with her husband and son in their Ogden home since all three tested positive for COVID-19 over a week ago. None of them have been able to leave home to buy groceries so Maysonet said they were thrilled to receive the health department’s delivery.

Rick Bowmer

AP

Vivian Zayas can’t keep herself from scrolling through photos of last Thanksgiving, when her mother stood at the stove to make a big pot of rice and beans and then took a seat at the edge of the table.

That was before anyone had heard of COVID-19 and before it claimed the retired seamstress. Ana Martinez died at 78 on April 1 while recovering at a nursing home from a knee replacement.

The family is having their traditional meal of

Travel

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November 27, 2020

Get Your Thanksgiving Turkey Fried; Help Feed DC’s Hungry

WASHINGTON, DC — Want to deep fry your Thanksgiving turkey but don’t want to risk setting your house on fire? Then haul your turkey down to Nationals Park in D.C. Thursday for the 12th annual Turkey Fry, sponsored by the Washington Nationals and Medium Rare restaurants.

Fryers will be set up at the Center Field Concourse adjacent to the C Garage from early in the morning to 3 p.m. While there is no charge for frying a turkey, Medium Rare is encouraging participants to donate $25 per bird to the Feed the Fridge initiative started by restaurant owner Marc Bucher.

“I’ve always opened up every Medium Rare on Thanksgiving and we’ve deep fried people’s turkeys for free for them for a decade,” Bucher said. “Hundreds of people on Thanksgiving show up to get turkey cooked by us for them.”

Bucher recently launched Feed the Fridge to provide free and fresh

Recreation

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November 27, 2020

Americans travel home for Thanksgiving despite coronavirus surge

Millions of Americans took to the skies and the roads ahead of Thanksgiving at the risk of pouring petrol on the coronavirus fire, disregarding increasingly dire warnings that they stay home and limit their holiday gatherings to members of their own household.

Those who are flying witnessed a distinctly 2020 landscape at the nation’s airports: plexiglass barriers in front of the ID stations, rapid virus testing sites inside terminals, masks in check-in areas and on board planes, and paperwork asking passengers to quarantine on arrival at their destination.

While the number of Americans travelling by air over the past several days was down dramatically from the same time last year, many pressed ahead with their holiday plans amid skyrocketing deaths, hospital admissions and confirmed infections across the US.

Some were tired of more than eight

Travel

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November 26, 2020

My Thanksgiving Story of Thanks

I never imagined that going completely deaf and losing everything I owned would turn out to be the best things that ever happened to me. What seemed like a great tragedy that would lead to empty and joyless life ended up making me far more successful and happier than I ever imagined.

For the past 17 years I have written a column at this time of Thanksgiving to tell my story and to offer hope for those that are dealing with struggles and difficulties that may seem insurmountable. I didn’t think it was possible for me to overcome the obstacles that I faced but faith, optimism and persistence can have miraculous results.

Back in the early 1990s I had earned law and business degrees from the University of Michigan. I had passed the CPA exam and was working hard to establish my own corporate and tax law practice in Ann

Vacation

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November 26, 2020