A big table full of family is not in the cards this Thanksgiving, but it's still possible to celebrated. Photo by Mat Brown from Pexels
Here is what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving: my family’s health, a job that allows me to work from home, a home that is safe and secure, a temperate climate that allows for outdoor activity every day of the year, and friends and family I can keep in touch with, mostly virtually.
For this holiday weekend, the traditional, big family gatherings aren’t going to be possible. This Thanksgiving will be different from any other, but it’s still possible to celebrate.
“This year, I encourage everybody to make our celebration large in thanks, large in gratitude, but small in size,” said B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has guidelines for safer celebrations, which say it’s better to gather outside and in small groups, if possible. If you’re gathering inside, keep it to six people and use large rooms that are well ventilated and with lots of room to space out. Keep the music low so people don’t have to shout to be heard.
Consider having one person plate all of the food, rather than serving it “family style.” If it is served family style, make sure everyone uses their own clean utensils for serving, the guidelines say. Of course, as always, wash your hands often and don’t hug or kiss each other, as you might in other times.
Meanwhile, B.C. passed the 10,000 covid-19 cases mark this week and other indicators are not so positive, either. The number of new cases reported this week is up over last week by 25 per cent, to 846 from 677. The number of active cases also rose, by 10 per cent. For the last seven days, B.C. averaged 110 new covid-19 cases each day.
Meanwhile, the news keeps rolling. Here are this week’s headlines:
- Almost as soon as I posted my week 29 entry, American President Donald Trump tweeted that he and his wife, Melania, had tested positive for covid-19. Since then, Trump has been in hospital and is now out again. There have been conflicting reports of how sick he was and how sick he is now. He hasn’t been seen in public other than in pre-recorded videos since he returned home to the White House.
- B.C. has ramped up testing and the turnaround rate is now about 28 hours on average, Dr. Henry said. Our reproductive number (the number of people one infected person passes the virus on to) is slowly come down to just under one, which is where we want to be, Dr. Henry said. For unknown reasons, some people will pass covid-19 on to many people – so called “superspreaders.” For instance, one 13-year-old girl gave covid-19 to 12 members of her family, even after testing negative, the New York Times reports.
- Simon Fraser University has a new study showing that mandates that require masks be worn indoors can reduce covid-19 by 25 per cent. Dr. Henry says she isn’t going to mandate masks indoors, but she highly recommends mask wearing when people cannot keep their physical distance, such as on transit or other public places.
- The Canadian government has loosened border restrictions. The border is still closed, but immediate family members and people in romantic relationships of longer than one year will be allowed to enter the country. They have to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival.
- Delta Hospital in B.C. is closed to new patients after seven people have died there from covid-19 since mid-September, the CBC reports. Eighteen patients and 17 staff members have tested positive at the hospital in recent weeks. The emergency department remains open.
- B.C. NDP leader John Horgan promised that the covid-19 vaccine will be free, when and if it is approved and available, the CBC reports.
- Covid-19 exposures continue in B.C. schools with more than 80 schools listed at last count. At least nine out of 16 students in a Grade 2 class at Caulfield elementary school in West Vancouver have tested positive for covid-19, as well as five parents, two siblings and two grandparents, Caulfeild parent Coralynn Gehl said in an open letter to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Vancouver Coastal Health’s chief medical officer Dr. Patricia Daly. An entire class at Elsie Roy elementary in downtown Vancouver was also told to self-isolate. Teachers are concerned about safety, but Dr. Henry says children still make up less than 10 per cent of all B.C. cases, so schools are not amplifying transmission.
- Richmond health service area has the lowest rate of new covid-19 cases in the Metro Vancouver area, Dr. Henry's data presented October 5 shows.
- Dr. Henry said that 80 per cent of covid-19 cases in B.C. come from clusters or known contacts. Some of the remainder are from international travel and other sources are unknown.
- Modelling presented by Dr. Henry this week shows that we have to keep our contacts at 60 per cent of normal or below to keep the covid-19 curve flat and low.
- The U.S. Centres for Disease Control have now updated their covid-19 guidelines to acknowledge that the virus can spread through airborne particles that can travel more than six feet and last for longer time periods, particularly inside in areas with poor ventilation.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Stay safe. Let’s hope next year we can gather with our families again.
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