WINK News Poll: Many will gather for Thanksgiving despite CDC recommendation

We’re conducting a poll on the WINK News Twitter account, and many people say they will not follow the CDC’s latest recommendations to avoid gathering for Thanksgiving.

In light of the coronavirus and CDC’s new guidelines, what do you plan to do for Thanksgiving?

— WINK News (@winknews) November 20, 2020

“It’s what I really look forward to because it’s a time that me and my friends and family all get together, and I do what I love to do, which is cook,” Jennifer Champion-Squyres said.

That’s why friends and family are still welcome at Champion-Squyres’s home in Lehigh Acres for Thanksgiving.

“It’s serious; I understand that,” Champion-Squyres said. “Do I think it’s worth limiting ourselves from our friends and family during the holidays? No.”

“People are going to go home, and it’s not because they’re going against public health orders,” Dr. Michael Mia, an epidemiologist at Harvard. “It’s because people are living their lives.”

Mina said there will still be consequences.

“Three or four weeks after Thanksgiving, we will see more people die than otherwise would have,” Mina said.

If you still plan to see friends and family but don’t want to risk infecting others later, be prepared to spend the two weeks after Thanksgiving alone.

“The CDC recommendation is that you definitely quarantine for about 14 days because that’s the upper limit of the incubation period,” said Professor Bindu Mayi, a microbiology expert at Nova Southeastern University.

Mayi says that means you can’t cut your quarantine short, even if you initially test negative.

“Once they’ve tested positive, if they have absolutely no symptoms, then, the recommendation is that, after 10 days, you can come out of your quarantine,” Mayi said.

If you test positive for the virus and have symptoms, you should self-isolate for a full 14 days. If you test positive and have severe symptoms, you’re looking at a much longer timeline.

MORE: CDC- When You Can be Around Others After You Had or Likely Had COVID-19