OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Thanksgiving is right around the corner. As hospitals continue to fill up, doctors suggest taking extra COVID-19 precautions, not just in public, but with family and friends as well.
"Do your best to use all of the tools in the toolbox to keep people safe, keep yourself safe over the Thanksgiving holiday," says Derel Glashower, senior epidemiologist for the Ottawa County Department of Public Health.
Glashower says those tools are simple to use, you just have to make the choice to use them.
The easiest? Hold off on gathering with the unvaccinated or the immunocompromised.
"If you're talking about spending the holiday with your elderly grandparents who may not have any immunity against COVID-19, those are some really important considerations to make," he says.
But if gathering is on the table, he says a COVID test beforehand is a great way just to be sure.
"Stay home if you're sick," urges Glashower. "You could have COVID-19 and pass it to others."
A few weeks ago on Halloween, public health officials had a different message, saying holiday traditions like trick or treating were mostly okay. Glashower says Thanksgiving is a different case because its indoors.
"On Halloween, you're walking from house to house, your interactions are very short," he says. "Thanksgiving is often like a full day event, with often a meal, sit down and watch the Lions for a few hours."
And as hospitals fill up around the state, Glashower urges everyone to stay safe not just for themselves, but for the exhausted medical staff.
"I think right now we don't have any indication that we've peaked," he says. "I just want to make the appeal as a public health professional to say to everyone, our health care system is in rough shape right now."
Glashower also suggests that if you are indoors, you should strongly consider masking up and social distancing when its possible.
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