In some states, there was a surge in Thanksgiving in the case of coronavirus: Shot

As Thanksgiving approaches, Americans say vacation trips and ralliesSerge on top of surge“— When the next vacation begins in late December, the country will be on an unstable path.

Three weeks later, at least so far, some areas seem to have avoided a dramatic rise, but many have fought a wave of infections that local health officials say were fueled by Thanksgiving holidays. I am.

“In many parts of the United States, there is a surge in incidents related to Thanksgiving dinners, family gatherings, and social events,” he said. Michael Osterholm, Epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research Policy.

Much of the evidence comes from the health department, which is tracking clusters of cases, but Osterholm believes that hospitalization and death (the “indicator of delay”) will reveal a complete effect in the next few weeks. ..

In Austin, the capital of Texas, public health officials Said The Thanksgiving caused a surge in new infectious diseases that endangered overwhelming hospitals.Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker Prompted Residents do not “repeat” Thanksgiving on their next holiday. And California — the case has skyrocketed to an astonishing 150% in the last two weeks — surge It’s at least partially Link For Thanksgiving.

However, although the situation is mixed nationwide, Osterholm calls attention to Christmas and the New Year holidays.

“”No one is trying to rob anyone of Christmas, “says Osterholm. “But I don’t want to lose Christmas in the future because someone got infected and died. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing from Thanksgiving, so take that as a difficult lesson. “

Philadelphia states that the number of cases decreased before the holidays and increased by about 50% daily after about 5 days. Dr. Thomas Farley, Philadelphia City Health Commissioner.

His department found many cases of infection after family and friends shared a meal together, including the case of a woman who began to develop symptoms. The day before There are more than 10 people to celebrate.

“By the time we caught up with her early next week, seven out of ten guests had tested positive. Increasing this hundreds of times throughout the city is enough to trigger the entire epidemic. “Farley says.

The incident is so widespread that the country is essentially a sea of ​​small outbreaks and each community is on its own path. Erie Murray, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health.

The United States is breaking daily records and hospitals are more packed than previous pandemics, but it’s too early to know exactly how much of them are related to Thanksgiving, Murray said. ..

“We are in a position to say that a really large tsunami did not occur, which suggests that the precautions people took on average were pretty good,” Murray says.

a month agoBefore Thanksgiving, the United States had an average of about 163,000 new cases a day.America is Now average Over 215,000 new cases a day. In some states that had a tragic outbreak in November, mask obligations were applied shortly before Thanksgiving, and the pandemic has slowed since then.For example, Iowa November 17th Maskman Date.. In mid-November, Iowa peaked at an average of about 5,000 new cases per day, but is now down to just below 1,600 new cases per day.

“From the data, it looks like we’re in the middle. It wasn’t as bad as it might have been, it wasn’t as good as it might have been,” Murray said. say.

Doctors see the horrifying fallout from Thanksgiving directly

About 10 days after Thanksgiving Vishnu ChundiA Chicago infectious disease specialist, has begun to see the aftermath of his vacation at his hospital.

In one case, a retired nurse he knew, and her husband and two children, were all infected after the supper.

“She didn’t think this could happen to her, but it did, and that’s the point of all take-out,” says Chundi, chair of the COVID Task Force of the Chicago Medical Society. The nurse’s husband and children survived. The colleague before him did not. “When she died, it just broke my heart.”

Chundi says there are “countless examples” among his clinical colleagues in the family who brought visitors to Thanksgiving dinner and got sick.

“It’s unnecessary and it’s sad to see people still living a lot of quality living being robbed by the virus,” he says.

At his hospital in Washington Dr. Nathan Schricher There are also patients who appear to have been infected with the virus at multi-generational Thanksgiving rallies.

“I took care of my three-month-old grandma with her last night, and she was infected with COVID,” he says. “Unfortunately, I was infected with COVID at the age of 3 months.”

Schricher shares the temptation to meet his parents and sisters during the Christmas holidays, but he does not.

He actually received his first COVID-19 vaccine this week, but has no plans to change his behavior.

“I can still get sick, which does not change the fact that the rest of my family are not vaccinated.”

One day you can “change the entire course”

Although difficult to draw nationally, some local and state health departments report that Thanksgiving holidays have clearly introduced new infections within their communities.

“From Thanksgiving, there is no doubt that we now know that gathering in one day can change the whole process of the epidemic,” said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Farley. I am.

Long Island experienced a surge within a week of Thanksgiving. This is almost the same as after Halloween. Dr. Gregson Piggott, Director of Health, Suffolk County.

“It’s frustrating. We’re doing our best to control and cover the pandemic, but despite our best efforts, the number is increasing,” he says.

Daily cases have surged from about 600 to about 900 since early December, he says, and the infection has not slowed since then. The surge occurred even after public recommendations and media reports urged people to limit meetings to direct members of the household and avoid travel.

“All these messages are there, but we have no control over human behavior,” says Piggott.

Not all states have the same fate. Some states believe they may have fought off the post-Thanksgiving surge.

With oregon Colorado There was no significant increase in post-vacation cases.Was similar Status At the hit Upper Midwest Minnesota And Michigan..

Holidays may not have made a big difference, as there are many other events that cause infections elsewhere.

Dr. Karen Landers, Alabama Public Health Service Assistant to State Health says her state has found some vacation-related cases.

“But we were already on the uptrend, so it’s just another event in addition to the uptrend,” she says.

This story comes from a partnership with NPR Kaiser Health News..