Reducing your COVID risk over Thanksgiving isn't too hard, doctors say

As families gather this week for Thanksgiving, some for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the risk of exposure to the disease will increase. But taking some precautions with travel and when out in public should help ensure greater safety for the feast, Augusta physicians said.

The most important step is to get vaccinated, said Dr. Barry Jenkins, chief medical officer of University Hospital.

"Vaccines are still important," he said. "The safest way to be around people and with family is for everyone to be vaccinated."

It's also important "to consider vaccination status before going to see family members," said Dr. Phillip Coule, chief medical officer of AU Health System. "One of the saddest things we have seen during the COVID outbreaks that we’ve had, particularly with the holidays and the family gatherings, is where a single person has COVID and comes in and infects all of their family. And many of them end up dying. It is a terrible situation."

Along those lines, Coule and Jenkins said, if you are not feeling well, don't go. Now is "not the time to risk exposing your family members to it," Jenkins said. If you have symptoms but don't believe it is COVID-19, then at least get tested, Coule said.

If you are fully vaccinated and are not having symptoms, then testing is probably not needed, they said.

"If they are vaccinated, if they are not symptomatic and they’ve not had a known exposure, it’s not necessary to test," Jenkins said. 

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The American College of Emergency Physicians recommends wearing a mask in public, and both Jenkins and Coule endorse that idea.

Flying should probably still be considered a "moderate" risk for COVID-19 exposure, particularly when going through large airports like Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Coule said. Airlines will require you to wear a mask in flight but remember that masking "reduces those risks, it doesn’t eliminate it," he said. Still, Delta Air Lines and others are "doing a really great job of cleaning and filtering the air, and with airflow,” Coule said, which probably helps reduce risk.

Driving, as far as COVID-19 risk goes, is lower "because you come into contact with less people in the process,” he said.

If you are traveling to another part of the country, it is a good idea to check and see what the community transmission rate is in that community, the Augusta physicians said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Brown University School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center all provide excellent, interactive maps and data to check out state and local rates. Some state health departments also provide excellent local data, Coule said.

It is important to also look at whether cases are increasing or decreasing in an area. A place that is seeing more cases or building toward a new peak "is much riskier than an area that is coming down off that," he said.

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"I do think it is important for people to educate themselves just so they know the environment into which they are traveling," Jenkins said.

That said, it is a good idea to wear a mask in public regardless of transmission rate and to practice those precautions that many adopted early on in the pandemic of frequent handwashing or sanitizing and social distancing, he said.

"We’ve all maybe been guilty of letting our guard down a little bit, but I think when we are outside those family-only settings we need to keep our guard up and watch our distance and mask and sanitize the hands and take those precautions," Jenkins said.

Wearing that mask at family gatherings, particularly with family that are vaccinated and otherwise low-risk, would probably be too much of a burden for most people and it is probably OK not to, Coule and Jenkins said.

"It is hard for me and my family traditions to imagine a family gathering with masks," Coule said. 

"I think it is probably a stretch to tell people you need to mask around your family members," Jenkins said, but be cautious around those who are unvaccinated.