1/ Hey hi, I get it. You are tired of shut downs and case counts and face masks and bar closures and limited capacity and all the rest of it. So am I. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/29/opinion/coronavirus-holiday-travel-thanksgiving.html

2/ And the holidays are important to your people and you want, NEED, to HUG your mom in person, and hold your dad’s hand on the porch, and see your eldest elderly kin across the dinner table, bc these ppl don’t have an infinite number of holidays left. I know. Me too.

3/ BUT: indoor gatherings, in close proximity to others, esp if they have gathered from far and wide, where you eat and talk and shout (sans masks), is the surest mechanism for continued viral spread.

4/ And not matter how many precautions you personally take, the more ppl who travel for the holidays, the more ppl who insist on gathering in groups around dinner tables, for extended visits, Ethel more outbreaks we seed in the weeks ahead. Plain and simple. Sucks but it’s true.

So before you book the tickets, plan the trip, decide to throw caution to the wind, decide that it will be ok to ignore this particular guidance bc you’ve abided all the others and life has to go on... Think about other people’s loved ones, too

5/ because when it comes to coronavirus, all risk is ultimately shared. It mask wearing is a civic duty and an act of solidarity, so are FaceTime holiday gatherings. Not forever. Just for right now.