To travel or not to travel is something many are debating this holiday season. Thanksgiving. The one day you can eat as much as you want to and not be judged. It’s a lot of people’s favorite holiday, being that it is generally a time to gather, rejoice and be around family. But this year is unlike any other.

As much as we all want to be around our family,we honestly shouldn’t. The current positivity rate in region ten (which includes H-F) is fifteen percent. According to the H-F Chronicle,there have been 818 cases in Homewood and 387 in Flossmoor.

There are currently nine thousand and counting Covid cases in Illinois. Masks are mandatory and most businesses are closed. That should be a signal that traveling isn’t the brightest idea.

According to Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, “There is a community spread right now, people don’t have symptoms, they don’t know they are infected.”

One negative test is not the green light to go travel frivolously. The virus could still be incubating inside of you. People tend to let their guard down around people they’re comfortable with and that is because no one appears to be sick. 

When considering traveling this holiday season think about those family members who are more susceptible. According to the Centers for Disease Control older adults like grandmothers and grandfathers and those with underlying conditions have a higher risk of being infected with covid.

Traveling to see them you could possibly  deliver Covid-19 to them. We all want to be around our extended family,but going to see them is putting them at risk. 

Think about next year’s Thanksgiving. If your grandparents or others with underlying conditions are exposed this year there’s a chance they won’t be at Thanksgiving next year.

When flying on airplanes to and from your destination you don’t know how many germs you will be picking up. Even if you drive to your destination you still have to make pit stops which requires getting exposed to new germs. There is no safe way to travel during a worldwide pandemic.

For those who are leaving and traveling, sitting in a cramped room with a lot of people, screams pick me Covid! Even if you keep your mask on before you eat, all that goes down the drain while you’re eating. 

Now I’m no doctor but we must stay where we are and not travel. People complain about the current times but aren’t helping to stop the spread.

For a safer alternative to still be with your family you could set up a zoom. It definitely wouldn’t be the same but at least you’d still be able to with family virtually anywhere.

We all want two plus two to equal four but in order for it to equal four we must stay home. If you want these mitigations and the virus to go away comply by staying home and scaling back your Thanksgiving.