CDC recommends against attending Thanksgiving parades, large indoor gatherings

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised against attending Thanksgiving parades and large indoor gatherings in its coronavirus recommendations for the holiday released last week. 

The CDC encouraged people to stay at home “to protect yourself and others” from contracting the coronavirus, which has infected more than 7.1 million and killed 204,905 people in the U.S., according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 

“Travel increases the chance of getting and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19,” the guidance reads. 

The federal agency divides traditional Thanksgiving-related activities into three categories: lower risk, moderate risk and higher risk. 

On the lower end of the risk spectrum, the CDC includes having a small dinner with people who live in your household, having a virtual dinner with friends and families, shopping online instead of in-person and watching sports events, parades and movies at home. 

The CDC considers having a small outdoor dinner with family and friends in your community and attending small outdoor sports events that have coronavirus restrictions to be moderate risk activities. Going to pumpkin patches and orchards where hand sanitizer is used, masks are worn and social distancing is kept are also moderately risky. 

Higher risk activities include shopping in crowded stores and attending a crowded race, parade or large indoor gathering with people from outside your household. 

The federal agency also released recommendations for other autumn holidays, including Yom Kippur, Halloween, Día de Los Muertos, Navratri and Diwali, that “typically include large gatherings of families and friends, crowded parties, and travel that may put people at increased risk for COVID-19.” 

For Halloween, the CDC recommends against “higher risk activities” like traditional trick-or-treating, indoor costume parties and visiting haunted houses. Instead, it suggested activities like pumpkin carving with members of your household.